Killing the Rival
by darklight1735
Summary: Gray is looking for the answers to what changed his life years ago, and avenge those who suffered. When the organization he's a member of makes plans to eliminate an opposing agency, what happens when a pink haired member of the rivaling organization proves a little harder to finish than the rest. Gratsu.
1. Unfortunate Beginnings

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Slightly AU. Gratsu, don't like, not my problem.**

**So I needed a break from school work, so I decided to write this. Yes, I know this chapter is long, no the chapters won't always be this long. Just wanted to get what happened when Gray was younger out of the way in one chapter. Side note, I'm messing with their ages in this, just so you know. **

* * *

"Will you hurry up!"

Ur turned around at the sound of her nine year old son's irked voice. Her daughter Ultear, the oldest of her children at ten, was giving a smirk at the white haired boy, receiving a glare from him as she did. Lyon turned his gaze back at who he had spoken to. The youngest of her three children at age five jogged up to his older brother's side, raven hair swaying in the frigid air as he did so. Gray, as he was named, reached out and tried to take Lyon's hand in his, earning a glare as he did, though not as displeasing as the one Ultear had received. The white haired boy pulled his hand away from the younger, muttering something about not succumbing to Gray's wants. A tiny smile spread across Ur's lips. As much as Lyon tried to deny it, she knew how much he cared for Gray. He just didn't want to seem like a softy.

Gray gave a small pout at his brother rejecting him. He reached out again to take his brother's hand in his. Lyon gave him one more glare before shifting the bag he had been holding to his other hand and grabbing the raven's waiting hand. Ur gave the boys one last smile before turning back around to continue on the walk back home from the market. Ultear's and Lyon's typical bickering could be heard behind her, along with the shuffling of feet through the thick winter snow.

"Pansy."

"Mooncalf."

"Ninnyhammer."

Lyon narrowed his eyes at the insult from his sister. "I am _not._"

Ultear smirked at succeeding at getting under her brother's skin. "You're a sucker too."

"Definitely NOT!"

A soft yawn escaped the raven haired boy holding onto Lyon's hand. Ultear's smirk turned into a triumphant grinning. "Three, two, on-"

Lyon felt a small tug on his sleeve as his sister count down at what they both knew what was about to happen. A curse escaped Lyon's mouth that if Ur had listened to their conversation long enough she would have hit him for it. "I'm not doing it, Gray."

Another tug.

"I'm not-"

Another tug.

Lyon gave up and looked down at his little brother. Gray was staring up at him with those dark blue orbs of his, silently pleading to his older brother. He reached his hands up, opening and closing his palms in a wanting motion. "I'm not carrying you." Lyon narrowed his eyes into slits at the small child. Gray added another lax yawn and stood on his tiptoes to get closer to Lyon's height. Lyon quickly looked away. He never could figure it out, but ever since he could remember Gray had always managed to get the white haired boy to give in to him.

"Fine." Lyon gritted through his teeth, earning a taunt laugh from Ultear. Lyon shoved the grocery bag he had been holding into his sister's arms before she could protest. He turned back to Gray and wrapped his arms firmly around the smaller boy. Gray spread his legs onto both sides of Lyon's hips and rested his head snuggly into the warmth of his brother's shoulder.

"Told you so."

Lyon gave his sister another glare. "Let's see you carry him, Miss Priss." Ultear stuck her tongue out at him and skipped forward to where their mother was walking ahead of them. "You're a real pain, you know." Lyon scolded the boy in his arms. All he got was a soft snore in response.

"Don't pretend you mind." Ur called back to him.

"I'm not a human bed!" Ur laughed at Lyon's complaint. Gray nestled his head closer to the crook of Lyon's neck. Lyon scrunched his nose up when he did, Gray's raven hairs tickling his nose. Lyon groaned in annoyance. "Why do I put up with you?" Gray moved his sleeping head a bit more and woke up long enough to peck his brother softly on his cheek before falling back asleep.

Ultear stood still for a moment, waiting for Lyon to catch up. "Looks like the kid _loooves _you."

"That's because he can't stand you." Lyon retorted.

"I disagree." Ur butted in. "He idolizes the both of you-"

Something flashed in the corner of her vision, catching her attention. Ur cocked her head in that direction and inspected the sight. Her breath caught in her throat when her eyes came upon a figure of a tall man in a dark red suit that rivaled the color of flames. She squinted slightly to make sure her eyes weren't tricking her. A curse unknowingly left her in disgust. "Bastard, what the hell is he doing here?"

Ultear looked up at her mom in curiosity. It was often her mom cussed in front of them. "Who's here?"

Ur glared at the man in the distance. A malicious leer spread across the man's face.

"Mom?" Ultear gazed inquisitively at Ur, the woman had yet to answer her. Ultear stared wide eyed at her mother when a low growl came from the woman's throat.

"Igneel..."

"Who's Igneel?"

Ur snapped out of her trance and looked back down at her children. Lyon was making his way up to her, Gray still cuddled securely in his arms. Ultear was giving her a scrutiny observation. Ur turned her head quickly back to where the man had been, subconsciously shifting into a defensive stance. Ur froze when she realized the man was no longer there, only a melted puddle of snow remained where he had stood.

Lyon studied his mother carefully. It wasn't often their mother shifted into her ice make position without warning, not unless they were training that is. "What's wrong?"

Ur didn't answer for a moment. "Nothing…" she murmured slowly. "It's just…nothing." Lyon and Ultear gave each other a question look, silently asking the other if they knew what was happening. "Let's get home." Ur straightened up suddenly.

Lyon gave his sister one last look before following his mother back down the snow path to their home. Even if they were supposed to know, the two of them weren't completely ignorant to the "business" their mother was involved in.

…

Gray shifted uneasily in his bed, a tremor running down his spine. He pulled the covers over his head, trying to block out the images of the nightmare that had awaken him. He risked a peek out from under his blankets that revealed pale moonlight shining through his bedroom window. He wrapped the blanket tighter around himself at knowing it must have been the middle of the night. _Mommy's already asleep._ He swallowed uneasily. _She was acting so funny when we got home…I don't want to worry her. But that monster was really scary…_

The raven snuck a quick glance at his door. He clenched his fists in determination and mustered the courage that only a terrified five year old could gather. He slipped out from under his covers, his feet lightly touching the wooden floorboards as not to make a sound. He shuffled silently across the floor, careful to avoid the parts he knew would creak under his weight. He turned the dulled doorknob and slinked around the door frame until he was in the hallway.

He tiptoed to the room one door down from his own. A squeak came from the knob when he turned it. He stood still for a moment, hoping the sound hadn't attracted any of the monsters hiding under his bed. When he heard nothing that resembled a behemoth moving towards him he continued opening the door the rest of the way. He slipped inside the room and reclosed the door with a near noiseless 'click.'

He shuffled his feet across the floor and up to the bed in the corner of the room. A white haired boy was sleeping comfortably under the covers, even if he didn't need the warmth from the cold. Gray stretched out a pale finger and poked the sleeping boy in side. Lyon stirred a bit in his sleep. The raven poked him again in the ribs and this time the white haired male's eyes fluttered open.

"Gray? What are you doing up?"

"I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you?"

Lyon closed his eyes again. "Go bother mom or Ultear."

"But Ultear doesn't like it when I ask her, and mommy was acting different. Can I _please_ sleep with you?"

Lyon let out low groan and cracked one of his eyes back open. "Aren't you too old for this?" The raven didn't answer, just stared at him with begging eyes. Lyon gritted his teeth. "Fine. But stay on that side of the be-"

The white haired male didn't even get the chance to finish. Gray was already climbing onto the bed and pulling the covers over himself. Small arms wrapped around Lyon in a cozy embrace and black, messy haired brushed against his chin as a head burrowed into the older male's chest. "I said stay on that side of the bed." Gray didn't move from his position of hugging Lyon. The older let out another groan, followed by gall thoughts. _Either Gray had already fallen fast asleep as he sometimes did, or he was becoming very good at pretending in order to avoid commands._

Lyon tucked his blanket tightly around Gray. He rested his chin on top of the raven's head and closed his eyes. "You're lucky I put up with you…"

…

"Mornin' sunshine."

Ur cast her daughter a beaming smile as the last of her children entered the cramped kitchen for breakfast. Ultear, who was anything but a bundle of sunshine, plopped down on the seat across from her two brothers. "What are we doing today?"

"Hmm," Ultear flipped the pancake she was currently making and gave her three children a side glance. She bit her lip, considering how to reply. To be honest, she was still anxious about the day before. She even was overly panicked when she couldn't find Gray in his room this morning. It wasn't until she found him in Lyon's room that she realized she had been holding her breath. "I was thinking…we work on your offensive moves. If we have time we'll work on strengthening your defense."

Gray looked up from the picture he was currently scribbling. "Me too, mommy?"

Ur gave the small child a reluctant look. As much as it pained her to know that her innocent baby needed to learn how to fight, she had to accept she need to teach him. "Yes, you too. But only after we work on your ice shield." Gray gave her a toothy smile and went back to his coloring.

Lyon stabbed a fork into his breakfast, his stomach growling in desire for the fluffy flapjack in front of him. Ultear wrinkled her nose as her ravenous brother dug in like an animal in front of her. "Would you please act like a human being?"

Lyon glared at her, a snarl coming from him. "Not in the mood."

"What's up with you? Nine in the morning and you're already as fun as a forest fire."

"Gray woke me up in the middle of the night." The mentioned boy gave his brother a sweet look that could make butter melt.

"Why were you in Lyon's room?" Ur spoke up.

"I had scary dream."

Ur tried to keep the hurt from her expressions at knowing her son hadn't gone to her for comfort. "What was it about?"

"A big scary monster with green hair, he kind of looked like this." Gray pointed to the picture he was drawing.

Lyon looked over to the drawing he hadn't bothered to look at a moment ago. "Geez, Gray, where did you come up with a monster like that?"

The smaller boy shrugged. "I was looking in for crayons the other day in mommy's office. I didn't find any, but I found a picture of him in mommy's stuff."

Ur stiffened at the statement. She looked over to where Gray was sitting and looked at his picture, her face visibly becoming chalk white as she did. "Sweetie..." Ur swallowed uncomfortably. She hadn't meant for her youngest to stumble upon her research for the Deliora demon, much less for it to frighten him. "I'm sorry about that."

Gray blinked up at his mother, unsure what she meant. His dumfound expression turned into one of his heart winning smiles when he believed he figured out what she meant by her apology. "It's okay. I found the crayons after that."

Ur let out a long sigh. At least Gray wasn't as pessimistic as his siblings…yet.

"Definitely need to work on your ice shield…"

…

"Ugh!" Ultear collapsed on the floor, not even bothering with at least trying to make it to the couch. Lyon fell down beside her, every bone in his body ached from the day's training. Neither of them could remember the last time Ur had made them work that hard and for so long.

"Well, that was fun!"

Lyon and Ultear turned to glare at their cheerful mother. Eleven hours of brutal exercises, drills, and matches against each other and the woman hadn't even broken a sweat. Meanwhile all the three of the kids looked like they had tumbled down a mountainside. Mostly Ultear and Lyon, Gray had collapsed from physical exhaustion two hours ago. Ur sent the two a perky smile before taking the unconscious Gray she held in her arms to his room for the night.

Ur entered the small bedroom and laid the small boy down in his bed, tucking the covers around him gently. She ruffled his dark hair affectionately. To say she was proud of the boy's accomplishments today would be an understatement. Already at age five he was beginning to learn the ways of ice make magic like it was second nature. She had no doubt in her mind that all her child were beyond capable. But Gray was different. His appreciation for magic was so unique that it was obvious he would exceed in the field.

Gray shifted under her touch, leaning into it more. "Love you, mommy."

"I love you too." She bent down and kissed his forehead and listened to his even breathing for a few minutes before leaving.

"What the hell did you just say?!"

Ur heard Lyon's yelling before she was even in the living room. The snowy haired boy was giving his sister one of his icy glares. Ultear smirked at the younger boy. "You heard me. Your magic is crap. You'll never be half the mage I am."

"The hell I w-"

Ur sent her fist down on Lyon's head with a thump, a growl emitting from her throat. "Language." Lyon rubbed his now throbbing head but didn't retort. Ur shook her head. She never could understand how kids could go from tired angels to angry savages when they weren't being look after. "If you two have enough energy to bicker then maybe we should continue today's training."

Both of her children paled at the statement, a stream of promises that they wouldn't continue their bickering for the night. A few "I love you's" were reluctantly exchanged between the two to emphasis their agreement.

Ur gave the two a warm smile, letting them know she wouldn't force them into another session. Lyon plopped back down on the couch, Ultear following suit. "You know," Ultear started, not completely willing to let their verbal fight die just yet. "Speaking from experience, you have yet to become as sk-"

Lyon clamped one hand over Ultear's mouth, cutting her off. "Did you hear that?"

Ultear narrowed her eyes at him and began to peel his hand away. "Hear what?"

Lyon stayed silent, waiting for the sound he had just heard to reappear. Ur gave her son a curious look and listened along with him. Her heart dropped when an echoing sound broke the still silence. The sound was a mixture of a low rumble and a high screeching. Even if her children hadn't, she had heard that sound countless times in her life, it wasn't a sound to be easily forgotten. A dragon's roar, only meant one thing after all.

Lyon gazed out the window, searching for what was causing the sound. A hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him away. "Stay down." Ur's voice was harsh and command, her motherly voice gone. She latched onto Ultear's shoulders, looking the girl in her eyes. "I'm heading out. If I'm not back tomorrow morning you three head over to my friend's house. If anything happens get your little brother and get out."

Ur headed towards the door before either child could ask what was going on. She gave a quick "I love you" over her shoulder before the door closed behind her, leaving two very confused kids to gawk at each other.

…

"Where do you think mom went?"

Ultear looked over at Lyon, not sure how to answer the question. Finally she just shrugged. It was well past midnight and Ur had yet to return. They hadn't heard the sound that had appeared earlier since she left. The two have just been sitting in tense silence for the past few hours. "Do you think…she's okay?"

Lyon turned and stared in shock at his older sister. "What kind of question is that? Of course she's okay."

"I guess…" Ultear gave her brother a sad look before getting off the couch. "I going to check on Gray. Make sure he's still asleep."

Lyon watched as his sister slowly shuffled out of the room, leaving him alone. A long sigh came out of him. He rubbed his eyes lethargically. It wasn't like Ur to just take off like that. Usually she told them at least a few hours in advance when she was going off for her "job." Hell, he couldn't even recall a time that she looked as nervous as she did before she left. Lyon considered heading to bed for the night. By the looks of things Ur wasn't going to be back tonight.

Lyon pushed himself up from his seat only to be forced to the floor. A large explosion rang out in the air and the walls around him began to split in parts. All of a sudden flames licked the ceiling and danced across the floor. Lyon coughed as thick, black smoke filled the air.

"LYON?!"

"Ul-tear?" Lyon coughed out, frantically searching for her. "Where are you?!" Blinding flames hopped around the house, setting the building on fire faster than what it would have burned.

"In the hallway. Lyon, get outside."

"Get Gray!" Lyon stumbled towards the door. He faintly heard Ultear call out that she was trying. Lyon froze before the doorway, there was no way he was leaving before his sibilings could. A crashing followed by a high pitched scream pierced the air through the crackling flames. "Ultear! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, but… Lyon the ceiling collapsed in the hallway. I can't get to Gray's room."

Lyon blinked, refusing to let the words sink in. "Ultear get out here now. We'll go around to the other side of the house."

Ultear slowly emerged from the hallway, her arms over her head to protect against the unforgiving flames. Lyon reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her away from the worst of the blaze and out the door.

Ultear started to gag on the thick smoke. "What," cough, "hap," cough, "pened?"

Lyon pushed his sister out into the snowy outside. Ultear stumbled a bit, dizzy from breathing too much smoke. "Stay here." Ultear gave a weak nod, she probably couldn't move even if she needed to. Lyon went the side of the house where the collapsed hallway wasn't in the way. Lyon coated his hand in ice and punched out the first window he found. He climbed through and into the already flame filled room. "Gray!" Lyon began calling out his brother's name in hopes the younger boy would figure out to follow his shouting. "GRAY!"

…

Gray stirred in his bed and coughs pooled from his throat. He cracked his eyes open and immediately wished he hadn't. He sat up, terror filling him. Flames were coming through his bedroom window and torching the walls. Pooping sounds were coming from the fire, adding screaming noise to his horror. Gray put his hands over his head and closed his eyes. "It's not real." He sobbed. "It's just a bad dream. It's just a bad dream. It's just-"

"GRAY!"

The raven's head snapped up at his name. Cold realization dawned on him. "It's not a dream…" He tumbled from his bed and backed up against the wall opposite the one on fire. He slid across the wall until he was close enough to the door. He hesitantly reached out and grabbed the doorknob. A scream ripped from his throat as he touched the burning metal and he jerked his hand back.

"GRAY!"

"Ly-Lyon." Gray shook, unable to control his fear. "He-help!"

"Gray, it's going to be okay. Just do as I tell you. We don't have much time before the roof collapses. Follow the sound of my voice."

"I can't get the door open. It's too hot."

"Try coating your hand in ice, I'm almost there, but you need to get out of there now."

Gray did as he was told. He held his damaged hand with his other and felt cold creep over the skin. He reached out to turn knob, feeling the ice melt on contact. Gray pushed the heavy door open and stumbled into the hall. His eye widened. The flames destroying his bedroom were nothing compared to outside the accommodation. It was like someone had painted the walls red, then proceeded to streak with black. The air was hazy with smoke, making it hard to breath.

"Lyon?"

"I'm over here!" Gray looked down to the end of the hallway. A short figure was making its way to him through the smoke. Gray let out a cry of relief and began to run towards him. "DON'T!"

Gray stopped a moment later part of the wall to his right gave out. A heap of rubble fell down on where Gray would have been had he continued. The raven took a step back, panicked at the barrier between him and his brother. "Lyon!"

"Just stay right there." Lyon cursed. The pile of rubble wasn't the problem; it was the wall of fire it brought with it. The white haired male brought his hands together, forming a sheet of ice over the blaze. Another swear left him as the flames merely engulfed the ice, melting it. _These aren't normal flames,_ he thought darkly,_ not even when the ice melts is the water having an effect on it. What the hell is going on here?_

Gray shifted from foot to foot, waiting for his brother to get him. The flames in front of his were getting higher and brighter, singeing the ceiling. A creaking sound came from above him. Gray looked up at the ceiling, seeing it begin to bulge downwards and cracks appear in it. "Lyon…"

"I've almost got you." The white haired boy tried forming another sheet of ice but the flames failed to respond.

Gray heard the creaking sound again followed by the sound of something snapping. The raven stopped thinking. He jumped forward, avoiding the ceiling that tried to fall on him. A scream came from him as his body tumbled through the flames on landed in the middle of the rubble. His body twisted in agony as the flames made their marks on his pale skin.

Something strong and firm wrapped around his body, pulling him away from the heart of the fire. Hands patted the flames left burning on his clothes, ending their reign. He felt someone picking him up and carrying him but he wasn't sure who. All he knew was the pain still attacking him. He felt his head slump forward and wet tears slid down his face. His skin was seared and severely damaged, adding to his misery. His head throbbed and he could feel his body trying to curl up on itself.

Ultear let out a breath she'd been holding when Lyon finally emerged from the inferno that used to be their home. Gray's head was slumped forward and he wasn't moving. Lyon laid the small boy down on the ground, and she was relieved to find Gray's chest wasn't as still as the rest of him. It rose and fell slowly, letting them know he was still breathing. Lyon took handfuls of snow from the ground and began to cover Gray with it, hoping the cold of the snow would help his burnt body. The raven stirred a little as the icy snow touched him, but didn't show any signs of reacting beyond that. Ultear kneeled down beside Gray and placed a cooling hand on his forehead. She gently stroked his hair, feeling the singed ends between her fingers.

Gray felt something cold toughing him, surrounding him. His body told him he was burning up but parts of him felt joyfully cool. He feebly opened his eyes. He could just barely make out the shape of Ultear and Lyon hovering over him. He turned his head to the side, feeling the cold snow against his cheek. He squinted as he saw something red in the distance. It wasn't fire though. A tall man in red suit stood off in the distance. A gleaming white smile stretched across his tan face.


	2. Present Day

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

_Thirteen Years Later_

A dark haired you man stood off to the side of the street, leaning casually against a brick wall. People rushed by him, too busy in their daily lives to take notice of his form. He ran a pale ran through his thick hair, bringing it down to his neck and inconspicuously pulling his collar up; letting the fabric hide a majority of his face. He kept his gaze low, not wanting to make it obvious he was looking for questionable activity among the somewhat tranquil town. His eyes landed on a certain figure. A man probably around his mid-thirties was walking a little faster than the others in the town. A leather briefcase was clasped in his hand. The man's shoulders were tense, not in a way that would indicate stress, but rather that of someone who was always posed to handle an attack without any direct damage.

The raven slid his eyes over to his partner. His comrade had a newspaper he had picked up in front of his face, shielding him from the subject of interest's sight. The raven strode towards him, keeping his calm demeanor on to continue their little charade. His partner didn't even bother to look up as the raven approached him. His colleague leafed through his paper, not letting on that he obviously knew the other. "I take it you realized him too."

Gray snorted at the other's lack of concern. "He fits the profile. He's carrying something too. Whatever he was sent here for, he got it."

"Hmm." His partner looked at Gray through his dark tinted glasses. "How much are you willing to bet he has information on him."

"You don't think he has weapon plans?"

"Of course not." Gray's partner brushed his long, snow white bangs from his face. "The big man's smart. He wouldn't send an agent out with plans that big. Not in such an exposed place." Gray didn't answer. After countless years of going on missions with Lyon he had learned not to question his brother's instinct. Lyon looked past his brother and at their suspect in time to see the man disappear from sight. "He's heading to the meeting place now. Did you checkout those blueprints for me?"

Gray had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. "What do you take me for? Top floor is deserted, bottom floor is too open, most likely he's on the second floor. Only exits are the roof, back alley, and directly through the front of the building."

"Very well." Lyon folded his paper and dropped on the bench seat beside him. "You take the roof. Make it quick."

Gray did roll his eyes as he brother brushed past him with a certain grace that a king would showoff to his peasants. He walked a few steps behind Lyon, trailing him down the street. He ducked in the alley beside the building while Lyon continuing forwards. A rusty, fire escape later was bolted to the side of the building. Gray gripped the first rung; rust flaked off in his hand when he did. He hoisted himself up, making his way to the roof. He heard a muffled sound that sounded like someone falling to the floor when he passed the second level. He swung his leg over the edge off the roof and landed silently on the horizontal surface. His eyes traveled across the flat roof, landing on an escaped hatch to the floor under him.

A crashing sound caught his attention and he knew Lyon was almost done below him. As to confirm his belief the door of the escape hatch flung open. A man with an already bloody nose gripped the edge of the hatch, trying to pull himself up. Gray calmly walked over to him and placed his boot on the man's face. The man fell back, joining the fellow enemies in the building. Gray jumped down the escape hatch and into the second level. His gaze took in the scene in one sweep, noticing everything with the one movement. Years of training would do that to you, and with his job, he had to be observant. He would be dead otherwise.

Lyon had easily traveled to the second floor, meaning both exits on the floor were taken care of. The snowy haired man had even managed to take out a few enemy agents as he did. A few unconscious forms littered the ground. Gray "tsked" and swung his leg out, nailing another agent in the head. He couldn't let his brother have all the fun.

The raven brought the base of his hand up, pushing against another agent's nose. Gray heard a satisfying _"crack"_ and the man stumbled back, holding his gushing nose. Gray swung his leg out again, hitting a third guy square in the side, and knocking him into the guy with the bloody nose. He spun back on his heels, eyes landing on the last guy standing other than him or Lyon. The man from earlier was still holding the briefcase, this time clutching it behind his back, as if that would really stop Gray or Lyon from getting a hold of it.

Gray swung his arm out, control the force of his blow from his elbow directly into the man's neck. The man stumbled but didn't fall, his eyes narrowed and Gray watched as the dark red magical energy began to swarm around him. Gray's mouth twitched. Of course at least one man was sent on this job was actually capable of something.

A thin sheet of ice appeared under the two, courtesy of Lyon. The man slipped, his head cracking against the frozen floor with a _"thud." _

"I could have handled him." Gray turned and gave Lyon an irked look.

The later shrugged. "I know, but I'm sick of wasting my time here." The snowy haired boy reached down and snatched up the briefcase.

"You know," Gray offhandedly nudged the man's head with his boot. "I would have thought someone decent would have been sent for this."

"Isn't it obvious?" Gray raised an eyebrow at the other. "Igneel doesn't know we're back yet."

* * *

Natsu clanked his glass against one of his friend's, a cheer rising up from those around him. Guild members of Fairy Tail chatted happily and enjoyed themselves as they often did, completely careless and unconcerned. Mira, the guild's white haired barmaid, gaze the dragon slayer one of her heartwarming smiles.

"How did the mission go?"

The pink haired mage replied back with one of his famous grins. "Great. We only-"

"He burnt half the town down." Lucy cut him off, giving him one of her scoldings. "Cost me my rent to." She muttered under her breath.

"Aw, come on Lucy, it's fun destroying things."

"Try telling that to my landlady."

"My, my, sounds like quite a mission." Mirajane smiled at the blonde.

"Aye!" Happy, Natsu's blue cat cut in. "Even Erza destroyed a majority of the village."

"That's not a good thing!" Lucy snapped. Happy ignored, finding the fish he was interesting much more interesting than the celestial mage.

Erza shook her head at the group's rowdiness. "On the Brightside, we at least fulfilled our job. That's all that matters."

The white haired barmaid gave her old long term rival a joy filled smile. "Erza's right. You never know when something keeps you from finishing something."

"That sounds like an omen." Lucy groaned.

Natsu grinned wildly. "Not for me. Anything gets in my way I'll just burn it to a crisp." As to emphasize his point he lit his fist in flames. "Someone just try me. I'll take them down."

* * *

"You two are back earlier."

"Nice to see you too, General Mikazuchi."

Kagura ignored Gray's side remark and instead looked at the case held in Lyon's hands. "Anything good?"

Lyon let out a long sigh. "Just the usual." The older boy unceremoniously dropped down in one of the chairs in the office the three of them were currently in, sliding the case across to Kagura as he did.

Gray plopped down in one of the office seats, propping his feet up on Kagura's desk. An action she would have slaughtered him for without a second thought had Gray not been one of the best field agents in the organization. Kagura shuffled through the files in the case, eyeing the papers carefully. After about a minute she pushed the case to the side, uninterested. She was probably going to make one of the poor slobs in the information department look it over. Gray eyed the woman carefully, Kagura may seem calm and in control (probably because she always was) but he knew she was plotting something behind her front. "What do you think he's up to?"

Kagura looked up at Gray's blunt question. "I believe…" Kagura slid her eyes over to Lyon. "That Igneel has something up his sleeve."

"More than usual?" The white haired man raised an eyebrow.

"Intelligence came up with a few interesting facts while you two were gone." Kagura reached down and pulled one of her desk drawers open. She pulled out a thick manila envelope. "You two wouldn't happen to recall the background check we did on Igneel's son a few years back, would you?"

Gray gave Kagura a curious look. "Yeah, we judged he wasn't worth pursuing. He only knew the basics. Igneel was too tightlipped around him."

"In spite of previous findings, we decided to reopen his case. We need an inside agent, going directly through Igneel is too risky. Tactics decided to send a man to get close to observe his son. From there we move forward."

Lyon eyed the General. "Inside man huh? Good try, but Igneel keeps an eye on his son. If he recognized one of our agents hanging around the kid he'll fry them to a crisp."

"Exactly." Kagura turned fully towards Gray. "You may be too identifiable, Lyon, but he isn't."

Lyon let out a choking sound. "_Gray? _You have got to be kidding!"

"You know I'm right here." Gray let out an irritated groan. As much as he loved his brother, Lyon often tried making the raven's own decisions, regardless of the younger's opinion.

"Gray is the best agent we have that Igneel won't recognize." She tossed the envelope to the raven. "Everything you need to know is inside. Dismissed."

Gray got up, pulling an arguing Lyon with him, and went out the door. "Damn woman, thinks she owns the damn place!" Gray rolled his eyes at his brother's ranting.

"You're not a General yet. Calm down,_ Major Vastia._"

Lyon narrowed his eyes at his younger brother. "You're not even a captain yet. _Sergeant Fullbuster."_

Gray punched his brother's arm playfully. "Yet who's the one being sent out on a solo mission."

Lyon snorted. "You watch it. Don't forget who's been on more assignments here."

"Ultear?" Lyon smacked the back of Gray's head. A smirk twisted across Gray's features. "I'm sorry. Should I say General Milkovich?"

Lyon growled at that, earning a laugh from Gray. The raven could never forget the look of jealousy Lyon had when Ultear was made one of the five Generals the previous year. Back when they were kids and they joined the organization they had discovered Ur had practically ran the whole organization as a General. Of course back then there had only been three general positions. After Ur never came back the organization reformed in hopes to become stronger than the rivaling organization. Of course the head of the rival organization, Igneel, always had a way to match their moves. Two underground organizations that focused on destroying the other. What could be better?

Gray tore open the top of the envelope Kagura had given, looking over the contents. "Dammit!"

Lyon looked over his shoulder at the info sheet Gray was examining. "What is it?"

"The bastard lives all the way in Fiore."

Lyon rolled his eyes. "You forgot that already? He lives a few hours south of where we think Igneel himself may live."

Gray let out a long a sigh and waved over at one of the runners that worked in headquarters'. "Oi! Coco!"

A shorter, barefooted, young girl with long brown hair came up to the raven. She gave Lyon and Gray a salute, as was custom when addressing someone of a higher rank than you. "Yes, Sergeant Fullbuster."

Gray smiled down at the younger. "How many times do I have to tell you, it's just Gray."

"Yes, Sergeant Gray."

Gray sighed. The younger girl had always been so respectful of everyone since she joined. "Very well, Private, I need you to run down to Planning to make arrangements for my departure."

"Yes sir." With that the girl turned away from him to deliver the message.

"You leaving tomorrow?" Lyon asked.

Gray shrugged. "Might as well get this over with."


	3. Guild Member

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy the chapter! **

* * *

"Natsu, huh?"

A raven haired man sat alone in a train cart currently on its way towards Magnolia, a local town in the country of Fiore. Normal passerbyers wouldn't have paid much attention to him and returned to their seats in the vehicle. One or two may have realized he was carefully examining something, but wouldn't bother to notice more. Ultimately, the best place for a secret agent to be was in plain sight.

"I feel like I should have remembered that…" Gray flipped through the document he was to have supposed to read before leaving, but even the best are sometimes friendly with procrastination. Gray unhooked a picture from the file and brought it closer for a better look. "Is this really the updated picture of the kid?"

Gray scratched his head in thought. Years had passed on the last investigation on the kid, and what he remembered about him still appeared true. His appearance was still consisting of tan skin, a white scarf, and oddly enough, pink hair that a sakura tree would be jealous of. Most of his background info hadn't changed either. The boy had joined and remained in a wizard's guild, for whatever reason was beyond Gray. Reports on his magic abilities show his control has increased.

"As expected from Igneel's son,"

Gray flipped to the next document he had neglected.

"He doesn't look as serious as I would have predicted."

A set of pictures showcasing Natsu in his natural environment (as in the guild he had joined) and on the job were clipped loosely to the page. A wide grin was thrown across the boy's face in every photograph, giving him a carefree look with a hint of rebellion.

A loud crackling sound came over the loudspeaker in the train cart, followed by the announcement of their arrival. "Time to go." Gray shuffled the papers he had been looking through together and stuck them back into the manila envelope Kagura had given him the day before. He swiftly made his way to his feet and opened the door leading between train carts. He passed through the next few train carts without drawing attention to himself, right up to the engineering cart. The trick was to act like you belonged there. If you show hesitation, people know you're up to something.

He waited outside the cart door until the train stopped. He heard shuffling from inside and a door squeaking open, letting him know the conductors had exited through the other door. Gray opened the door and gave a glance inside the train cart, making sure no one remained. Revealing itself empty, Gray entered and within three strides was next to the furnace that powered the engine. He tossed the envelope in the still blazing fire. A casual phrase that Lyon had often said left his lips. "No evidence is the best evidence."

Gray exited the train cart as the files burned to a crisp. The least amount of show of him purposefully coming here the better. Especially if someone would have found the files otherwise.

"Excuses me, Miss,"

Gray tapped the shoulder of an elderly woman on her way out the station.

"Could you tell me where a wizard guild is?"

The woman threw her thumb over her shoulder and pointed south. "Follow the sound of destruction."

…

"Geez, she wasn't kidding."

Gray stood in front of a grand building. The building was mostly made out of light grey colored stone, giving it the resemblance of a castle or fortress. A golden bell was located at the top, just above the highest balcony. Just below that was a fiery orange flag with a white fairy symbol on it. Most striking of the building, was the deafening sound of a brawl coming from inside. An earthquake could occur and the people inside wouldn't be able to tell it apart from the commotion they were causing inside.

"Let's get this over with."

Gray walked up to the double doors of the guild entrance. His hand latched around the handle and the door opened with a loud squeak. He glanced in and walked through the entrance, meeting a…

…A very large table flying towards him.

Gray easily dodged to the side and ducked as another piece of furniture was thrown his direction. "What the hell…" The raven glanced up to see who was throwing furnishings like pies but only found a large group of people attacking each other like a group of feral dogs.

Gray shook his head and glanced around, looking for anyone who could possibly be the master. He spotted a small, blue haired girl quivering behind an overturned table, no doubt her way of taking shelter from the fighting mass. "Hi there," Large worried brown eyes matched Gray's dark blue one's, though they calmed down at seeing he wasn't a chair coming towards her.

"Um, he-hello."

Gray gave the small girl a reassuring smile. "Could you tell me where the Master is?"

Her trembling form immediately perked up. "Master Makarov? Are you asking him to join? You are, right? You're not from the council…are you?"

Gray waved his hands in front of him in a no manner at the last question. "Nah, just looking for a guild to join."

"Oh, umm…" Wendy looked away from him and towards to brawling crowd. "He's right over there, at the bar just behind everybody."

"Thanks…"

"Wendy."

"Thank you Wendy. Nice to meet you. I'm Gray by the way."

Wendy gave him a small wave as he made his way towards the bar. "Good luck!"

Gray shot her one last smile before continuing on his way. An old, aging man sat atop of a bar counter, holding a beer mug to his lips. Gray opened his mouth to speak but was cut off before he even could. "What can I do you for, youngster?"

The elderly man turned his eyes towards Gray. "I was hoping you would permit me to join your guild, sir."

The older man rubbed his chin. "Another brat to join the family, huh?" Makarov glanced over the young man. "Course you can. Fairy Tail always has open arms for those willing to step into them."

Gray smiled at the old man, even though his words were awfully cheesy to say the least. "Thank you sir."

The Master snorted. "Enough with the 'sir.' I ain't that old. Call me Gramps if you want but sir won't do. Mira!" The old man waved at a white haired barmaid at the other side of the bar. "Get this man a guild stamp." The old man hopped off the counter and gave Gray one last look. "Do try not to destroy this dump while you're here. I've got enough brats for that job." As if to emphasizes his point another table crashed into the bar beside the old man. For a moment afterwards Gray wondered what these near indestructible furnishings were made out of.

"Where would you like it?"

Gray looked at who had spoken. The barmaid from earlier stood beside him, a stamp held in her hand and a warm smile on her face. "Right here would do." Gray pulled down the collar off his shirt and part of the fabric, revealing his right pectoral. This way the mark could be easily covered up if need be.

Mira smiled and stamped the guild mark onto his chest. A dark blue that went Fairy Tail mark that went swimmingly with his eyes appeared in the pale skin. "Welcome to the guild!"

"Who's welcomed to the guild?"

Gray looked up to see a scarlet haired woman leaving the fray and approaching him. She had an air around that gave a menacing, ruling aura. Gray got the feeling she didn't often take orders, more of the commanding type.

Gray held out his hand towards the scarlet woman. "I go by Gray, and you must be-"

"ERZA GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME!"

"You must be Erza."

The scarlet reached out and shook Gray's hand. "Pleasure to be working with you."

"ERZA! I said fight me!" A pink haired teen stamped up to them, a mischievous look in his eyes. His gaze narrowed when it landed on Gray. "Who the hell are you?"

Gray forced a smile, less than thrilled to actual having to be in front of Igneel's heir and unable to strangle him on the spot. Instead he acted like the clueless new guild member he was supposed to be.

"This is Gray." The scarlet introduced the raven for him. "I trust you'll be making him feel welcomed, _right Natsu?"_

Natsu shivered at the sudden change of tone in Erza's voice. The scarlet went from friendly and welcoming to cold and commanding in less than a second. The only people that Gray knew could do that was General Kagura and his sister. Natsu mumbled something Gray couldn't make out but assumed it was a "yes, ma'am"

"Perfect, now you two play nice." The scarlet patted both of them on the shoulder and pushed them together like they we're both five year olds that had just been fighting and needed to make up. With that the armored knight left.

Natsu gave the raven in front of him a careful look over, much to Gray's annoyance. The pink head sniffed the air around him, for whatever reason Gray couldn't figure out. "Can I help you?" the raven snapped after about a minute of Natsu's sniffing.

"You smell familiar."

Gray kept his cool appearance, though on the inside he was going through every possibility Natsu could recognize his scent. More importantly, how the hell the guy could even smell him? Was that a normal thing for the freak? "Excuse me?"

"You smell like," Natsu leaned forward and took a closer sniff of Gray's scent. "Like wood forest pines in the winter. Why do you smell like winter in the middle of summer?"

"Umm," Gray cursed in his head. The Isvan region where he was usually stationed in was always snowy. Even on the hottest day of the year it snowed. "I'm an ice mage. Does that have anything to do with it?"

"You're an ice mage?!" Whether that had to do with it or not, Gray couldn't tell. But it obviously got the simpleton's mind of the question. "Fight me!" Right onto another topic.

"Why would I do that?"

Natsu smirked. "What's wrong, Droopy-eyes? Afraid you're gonna lose?"

Gray narrowed his eyes at Natsu's cockiness. "Bring it Slanty-eyes."

…

"I can't believe someone is actually matching Natsu."

Lucy stared wide-eyed at the two boys duking it out in front of the guild. Since first meeting Natsu a few weeks ago she had yet to see him come to a standstill against anybody. Usually he beat someone to a pulp, or they did to him, but the dragon slayer always managed to come out on top. That wasn't even close to what was happening here. The blonde felt Natsu may have been holding back, but so was the raven.

"Hey Erza, do you think we should break them apart?"

"Hmm," Erza gave the two boys a look before shrugging it off. "Let them be. They'll get tired eventually."

Lucy let out a sigh. Truthfully she knew the scarlet would have broken them apart already had she not been eating a piece of strawberry cake she found way more interesting.

Natsu panted and brought his fist up for another strike. The damn ice block could sure take a hit.

Gray smirked. "What's the matter, Flame Brain? Tired already?"

"Bastard. You're in worse shape than I am."

"Am not." Gray ducked when a flaming fist aimed for his head. "Just bringing myself down to your level."

Natsu growled. He dodged as an ice hammer came down on him, or where he had been a second ago. "Says the guy who can't even hit me."

"Ash brain." Gray put his fist atop of his palm, his natural ice make position. He wasn't one to run from a fight so easily, especially if he got to beat the crap out of someone on Igneel's side. "You're going down-"

"NATSUUUUU!"

Both mages froze and looked at who had spoken. Gray felt his eyes grow to the size of dinner plates when a blue, talking _cat_ hurled up to them, by _flying._ Really? Of all things to have a cat? Does that sound like it strikes fear into your heart?

"Happy?" Natsu held out his arms and the small feline flew into them.

"You promised we'll go fishing today."

Natsu looked back and forth between the feline and Gray. He wasn't one to go back on a promise. But he really wanted to show Gray who the better mage was. "We'll finish this later. Got it icy bastard."

Gray watched as Natsu walked away from, cat in hand. To be honest, he was glad to get rid of the energetic moron for the day. That was, until he realized he just got passed up by a cat.


	4. Train's Can Be Fun Too!

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy! **

* * *

_Isvan Refugee Camp, Number twenty three_

"Well there's a face I haven't seen in a while."

Lyon let out a long, irritated sigh at the voice that called out to him. "You don't have to act so surprised to see me. Besides, I could say the same to you. What are you even doing here Ultear?"

"That's General to you, nor don't question your superiors. What you are doing here I find much more interesting."

Lyon narrowed his eyes at his high and mighty acting sister. As much as he loved, there were times she could be overbearing to the point he just wanted to fight her like when they were kids. "I'm just passing through. I heard the camp was having a few issues so I wanted to make sure everything was settled by now. Seems that everything is going smoothly for now…" The white haired male glanced around at the camp inhabitants. A majority of them had lost their homes due to Igneel burning their villages down to a crisp. Others were fleeing from Igneel's men in attempts to escape the bastard's wrath. The refugee camps weren't exactly comfortable, but they were doable, especially if they had nowhere else to go.

Ultear shrugged. "We're trying to decide if we want to move a group to camp twenty four since it could handle everyone better, but it's safer here closer to headquarters."

"Sounds like your problem."

Ultear punched her brother none too gently in the shoulder. "Don't be so uncaring. I'm actually glad I ran into you today."

Lyon raised a white eyebrow at her. "Why is that?"

"There was an information leak on Igneel's side. We've got a lead on his current place of residence. With any luck I can scope it out and confirm it is. I'm heading out there tonight. If I'm not back by the day after tomorrow I want you to go to my main office and go through the files on this. Got it?"

"What are you going to do if it is his house?"

"Well if I live to make it pass his guards we'll find out, won't we?"

* * *

"Watcha' doin' Gray?"

A blue feline flew over and plopped himself atop of the raven's shoulder, making himself comfortable when he landed. "Hmm," Gray looked at the cat from the corner of his eye. "Erza told me to look for another mission." Gray turned his gaze back to the request board he had been studying prior to the cat's question. It had been a week since he had infiltrated the Fairy Tail guild and he had already been accepted like he had been there for years. The scarlet Titania had even assisted he join the team composed of her, Lucy, and Natsu for when they went on jobs. Though Natsu had complained, saying something about him being an ice bastard and not wanting him on their team. Not that his comments stopped Gray, if being on a team with the idiot allowed him to get closer to him, all the better.

He had to say though, he didn't think learning about Natsu would be so easy.

The pink haired dragon slayer was an idiot. There was no disputing that. He didn't think ahead, nor was he too concerned about the consequences for his actions. He was bold, and obnoxious, and so insolent Gray wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face. He did possess enough sense to keep his mouth shut though. Not once had Gray heard Natsu talk about what his father did for a living.

"How about this one?" Gray pulled one of the flyers off the request board.

Happy glanced over at it. A smile spread across the cat's face. "That's a good one. Lucy can pay off her rent if we do this one."

That was something Gray had noticed about the guild members. Lucy, to begin with, was terrible at money management. She never had enough money to pay her rent, but always had enough cash for a new outfit, go figure. As far as Erza went, she was a demon in a woman's body with a craving for strawberry cake. Nothing to it. There were other things he noticed too. Happy was usually munching on a fish of flirting with a white she cat. All their antics were so different from one another it amazed the raven how well they worked together.

Gray walked over to where everyone was sitting. Happy jumped off his shoulder and landed on the table in front of Natsu. "Gray found a job!"

Natsu glanced up at the raven, or rather, the flyer in his hand. The pinkette snatched it out of his hand for a better look. A wide grin spread across his face as he skimmed it over. "Take out a few rouge mages, huh? Sounds like fun."

Lucy squeaked. "Rouge mages? As in dangerous-"

"Sounds like an excellent mission." Erza interrupted. "It's settled. We'll head out tomorrow. I suggest you three go home and get plenty of rest."

"Aw, Erza, it's still early." Natsu whined.

The scarlet gave him a commanding look and the fire mage shot up from his seat, grabbed Happy, and was out the door before the scarlet had to repeat herself. Lucy rolled her eyes and got up to head her home herself. A smug look crossed Erza's face at getting the two more sociable of the group to head home without a major argument. Three if you count the cat's forced exit.

The scarlet turned to the raven, a threatening gleam in her dark brown eyes. Gray held his hands up in defeat. "You don't have to tell me twice. See you then."

"Didn't expect I had to. You're not really one to stick around much. Has anyone ever told you you're extremely reserved?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The scarlet gave a small shrug. "Just that you don't really talk to anyone much, you're observant though. See you later, Gray." With that the scarlet turned heel and left. Gray watched her retreating back for a moment before turning to do the same. When he did his a slight movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Gray's vision narrowed in what he thought moved but came up empty. He shrugged off what he saw but kept a partial guard up, just in case.

Gray made his way to the guild doors Natsu had just run out of moments earlier. He head towards a more secluded section of Magnolia, just outside the city edge where his current lodging was located. When he had told Coco to make travel plans for him he hadn't expected to have such a nice set up to be in store for him when had first arrived. He would have to make sure he talked to the head of her department about the girl. Someone as hardworking as her needed a little more recognition.

A small cabin was beginning to become visible in the distance, signaling his almost being back at his accommodations. A rustling sound caught his attention. Gray snapped his head to the side to look where the noise was coming from. A similar movement to what he saw earlier at the guild moved away from his eyesight.

Gray clenched his fist in anger at the thought of him being followed so earlier in the game. He had expected Igneel to catch on, but not as earlier as this. Why he hadn't been taken out already was a question worth asking. Was it that Igneel doesn't want his son obviously involved if he took Gray out in the open? Or was it that the bastard just didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to himself? The raven clenched his jaw in determination. No matter what he wasn't going down without a fight. Dammit, if that fire bastard thought he cou-

"GRAY-SAMA!"

Gray felt the air get forced out of him when a pair of skin, powerful arms wrapped around him from behind. Something snuggled into his back which he assumed was someone's body. Gray twisted his head to get a better view at who had jumped/hugged him, even though with that greeting he had a pretty good idea.

"Juvia?"

Blue hair swayed to the side as bright eyes looked up at him in excitement. "Juvia heard that Gray-sama has joined Fairy Tail. Juvia was happy to hear Gray did. This means Gray-sama will be closer to Juvia."

Gray reached down to pry her arms off of him. "Nice to see you too, Juvia. But what are you doing here?"

"Juvia was sent a few months ago to make Igneel wasn't forming alliances with powerful mages. Juvia was sent to Fairy Tail because of all the strong mages there. Juvia hasn't found evidence that negotiation has been going on though."

"Hmm," Gray looked down at the expressive girl. He grabbed onto her wrist and began dragging her towards his lodgings. Talking out here wasn't the best idea…just in case.

"Where are we going, Gray-sama?"

"Just where we can discuss everything," as an afterthought he added, "and stop calling me 'sama.' We're both Sergeants, there's no need to address me like I'm a superior."

"Yes, Gray-sama."

Gray sighed. Juvia hadn't changed much since he last saw her. She was still the overly emotive girl he knew. Though he knew she could take down whole squadrons if she set her mind to it.

Gray shoved his key into the lock and giggled it open. He pulled Juvia inside and closed the door tightly behind her. Juvia rocked back and forth on her heels, eager for a private conversation with her long term crush. Even if the raven was unrequited to her feelings that wouldn't stop her from assisting him when he requested it. Especially if that meant alone time with him.

"okay, so you're saying no inside deals have been made yet?"

Juvia shook her head. "None that are obvious. Juvia believes this mission was for nothing." Juvia looked up into Gray's eyes, curiosity sparking in her dark blue ones. "Why was Gray-sama sent to Fairy Tail?"

Gray shrugged. "That's a good question. You're here, so I don't know what Kagura was thinking about sending someone else. Either way, I'm here to study Natsu. How much do you know about the kid?"

"Natsu?" Juvia tapped her forefinger against her lips in a thinking manner. "Natsu is a very brave man. He cares for his guild mates and has a strong will. Juvia doesn't think he's a bad man like his father. But is sometimes short tempered."

"That's an understatement." Gray muttered under his breath. "what can you tell me about his fighting style. If I have to take down the bastard it's better I'm not completely clueless."

"Sure thing, Gray-sama."

…

"Don't make me get on that thing!"

Happy giggled and nudged the loudmouthed dragon slayer forward. Natsu planted his feet firmly on the ground, refusing to move any closer to what he sometimes referred to as a mobile deathtrap.

Gray rolled his eyes at the pinkette. "Get on the damn train Natsu."

"Can't we just walk to our mission site?"

"No." Erza's voice had a 'no arguing' overtone to it and a metal clad hand clamped down on Natsu's white scale scarf. The dragon slayer let out a yelp as he was dragged onto the train, he kicked his legs a bit, trying fruitlessly to get free from the scarlet.

Gray followed the two onboard, Lucy and Happy right behind him. Erza pushed the dragon slayer onto the first open seat she saw and sat down across from him. Lucy and Happy took the seat next to the scarlet, leaving the only available seat left for Gray the one next to the already motion sick dragon slayer. Gray felt his eye twitched but sat down next to the fire mage nonetheless.

Natsu let out a moan when the train squeaked to a start and began to chug down the tracks. Natsu hung his head out the window, unable to keep his breakfast down any longer. "How much…longer?" He gagged.

"We just got on." Happy piped up. "Plus the mission place is really far away."

Erza nodded to confirm the cat's statement. "We'll arrive in several hours."

"Hours?" Natsu looked horrified for a brief moment before having to hang his head back out the window.

…

Gray had to resist the urge to shove Natsu to the floor of the train. Lucy, Happy, and Erza had all nodded off after the first few hours. Only he and the dragon slayer remained awake. Natsu was still awake since his nausea prevented him from even coming close to sleep. Gray because there was no way in hell he was going to let a relative of a known murderer be fully awake and partly operating when he had both his eyes closed.

Natsu groaned and slumped against Gray's shoulder, making himself comfortable against the ice mage's arm. Said ice mage scrunched up his nose in disgust. Having an ill dragon slayer leaning on him wasn't exactly on his list of favorite things. "Oi, Flame Brain, off!"

Natsu moaned and snuggled closer to him. Gray pushed against the pinkette, trying to get him away from him. Natsu gave him a sharp glare and rested his full weight against the ice mage. "Would you stop it? You're kind of comfy."

Gray had to say he was impressed the fire mage could get a few words without his stomach cutting him off. Didn't man he was going to let Natsu stay though. "Ash Brain, I said off!" Natsu gave him another glare and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a new wave of nausea. Gray gritted his teeth, as much as he didn't want to help the fire mage, he didn't want to be covered in vomit either. "Come here."

"What are you do-"

Gray pulled Natsu's head into his lap and gently stroked his hair. He rubbed a few of Natsu's muscles, releasing tension in the dragon slayer. Gray was no healer, but he had visited the medical unit back at headquarters often enough that he knew how to handle a little queasiness.

Natsu let out a long sigh and closed his eyes, unashamedly becoming cozy on the ice maker's lap. His motion sickness wasn't completely gone, but Gray had somehow managed to calm it down.

Gray's mouth twitched when a soft snore came from Natsu, letting him know the other had drifted off. Gray continued stroking Natsu's soft hair, making sure the dragon slayer was in a deep sleep before he stopped comforting him. Gray offhandedly studied Natsu's tan face. He had to admit, Natsu wasn't as bad as he had thought he would be. Yes he was obnoxious, rude, loud, and hyperactive, but he had his good sides.

Like when he shuts up.

That's pretty nice, and if sleeping gets him to be quite, Gray could live with having the mage temporarily using him as a pillow.


	5. Natsu's Idiotic Mistakes

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Thanks everyone for all the nice things you've said. Enjoy! **

* * *

A slender figure balanced itself high atop a thin platform where two sides of a roof meets. Few figures where below her, guards that should have spotted her at her arrival. The gleam of the early morning sun peeked out from behind the wispy morning clouds, dawning light on the grand mansion the figure was currently infiltrating. Saying the residence that was currently being broken into was massive would be an understatement. From the infiltrating spy's point of view they were positioned on the roof of one side of the house, and could see clear through the window on the mansion's left wing. A grim smile came over the figure's features at wondering if the owner treated his employee's a fraction of decency as he himself possessed.

The figure swung her legs out and slid down the roof. She twisted her foot at a right angle before reaching the bottom, stopping her from falling to the ground two stories below. She did a quick twist with her whole body and half jumped, to the roof's edge, grabbing onto the rim and hanging off the roof from there. A window was just the left from where she was hanging. Reaching out with her foot she stepped in the window ledge. She released her hold from the roof and dropped down gracefully onto the window sill.

She laid a hand against the smooth glass of the windowpane. A light blue magic circle spread out from her palm and moved over the clear surface. Frost began to form on the glass, followed be a thin coat of ice covering the surface. She pressed inward, focusing her magic to keep the window in one piece as she did, so not to shatter and draw attention to herself. The window loosened from its holding and gently popped out of the frame, leaving only the opening it was to close. The figure placed the frozen glass against the wall on the inside before finally passing through the window herself.

She landed in a crouching position, the sound of her breaking in muffled by the thick carpet covering the floor. She glanced through her dark hair to examine the room's contents. A few bookshelves were pushed against the wall, holding dusty old books not worth considering useful. Her eyes caught on a much more interesting piece of furniture. A wooden desk was standing next to a wall. She walked silently over to the workspace, kneeling back down to look closer at the drawers inside. A tug on one revealed what she had expected, locked. A smirk appeared across her face. Cockiness had no place in such a serious situation, but if they really wanted to keep things safe they would have to try better than just a simple lock. A lock was no match to a creation mage.

In a matter of seconds a thin piece of ice was being inserted in the keyhole. A clicking sound came to the ice mage's ears and the drawer slid open with ease. She rummaged through the contents for a minute, her hand finally coming to a stop above a messily stapled together pile of papers. She pulled the stack out for closer inspection. Her smirk from earlier returned as she read through the papers, plans and plots running wild through her mind.

Ultear folded the papers up and placed them in her pocket before heading back towards the window. She forced down a laugh as she left. If Igneel wanted a fight, she'll give him a war.

* * *

"Dammit! Why the hell did Erza stick me with you!"

"How the hell am I supposed to know that! Like I want to be stuck with a flame head like you!"

"Who are you calling flame head, droopy eyes!"

"What did you say, lizard freak!"

Natsu smirked. He would never admit it out loud but he actually liked having Gray to pester. He had been surrounded by mainly girls for so long (as in Lucy and Erza) it was nice to finally have someone to bicker with so freely. So when Erza had paired him up with the icy bastard to search for the rouge mages they were looking for, he hadn't put as much complaint as he could have had. "At least I'm not a perverted stripper."

Gray looked down a cursed at realizing his shirt was missing. The ice mage quickly looked about, looking for said shirt in the bushes. Natsu watched as he looked, something about Gray being exposed like he currently was was so eye-catching to the fire mage, even if he couldn't quite put his finger on why. The dark blue Fairy Tail mark on his chest was so appealing to go along with the bare skin, it just seemed right that the ice maker was in the same guild as the dragon slayer, like he just belonged there.

Gray finally located his missing piece of clothing snagged on a tree branch, how it ended up there he had no idea. He slipped the clothing over his head, tense during the few seconds the cloth covered his eyes from view of Natsu. He eyed the fire mage warily when he came back into view. If the flame mage was going to try anything while the two were apart from anyone else he didn't want to be caught because of a simple sight problem.

Natsu flashed Gray one of his dazzling smiles before continuing onwards in their search. The ice mage shook his head in confusion. The dragon slayer was one hard egg to crack. As simple minded as he had seemed, he had turned out to be a real case in the end. He still couldn't tell what the guy was playing at.

Natsu sniffed the air lazily. Not once in the whole hour the two of them had been searching had he stumbled across a scent he could follow. The mages they were searching for must have gone in the opposite direction they had, as in Erza's and Lucy's way. Natsu would have pouted at the thought of the blonde and scarlet getting to have all the fun of fighting the guys if he wasn't above the girly action.

"Still nothing?"

Natsu shook his head. "Not a thing. You wanna turn back?"

Gray shrugged. Truthfully he just wanted to get this job over with. He didn't know what it was, but the fire mage was starting to give him a funny feeling the longer he was around him. "Sure, let's head back before-"

"Hey! What's that?!"

"-before we wonder out too far." Gray sighed as the fire mage ignored him and rushed on, something catching his short attention span away from the ice mage.

Natsu bounded up to the mountainside next to forest they were supposed to be searching. A dark crevice was hidden behind upward growing vines, nearly hiding the opening from sight. The dragon slayer peeked in the black fissure. The opening was narrow, but wide enough for somebody to squeeze in. A few feet past that the passage widened and went further into the mountain side. "Let's go inside."

Gray peeked over Natsu's shoulder to look at what he was observing. "You want to go in _there?!"_

"Come on!" Natsu slid past the opening, slightly squished between the rock faces as he made his way through the entrance.

"Natsu wait up, you don't know how stable this thing is."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "That's the fun part. Haven't you ever been spontaneous?"

"No."

The flame mage looked back at the ice mage still on the other side of the opening. Something in his tone told him he wasn't joking. "What have you done all your life then?"

Gray's expression turned dark. "As if you don't know."

Natsu was about to ask what he meant by that but the mage was already heading into the passageway after the dragon slayer. Natsu gave him his signature grins before continuing through the tunnel. "Where do you think this leads to?"

"How am I supposed to know that either? We'll just go a little farther then turn back."

"Gray do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Natsu froze and listened more intently. The sound of something fracturing was coming above his head. The dragon slayer turned his gaze upwards. A small crack was spreading along the cave ceiling just above their heads. Natsu's eyes widened in terror.

"Natsu, what is it-"

Arms locked around the ice mage and pulled him forward. Gray toppled and fell onto Natsu who immediately flipped him over and laid on top of him. A crashing sound split the air around them and the cave's ceiling began to cave in. A thick layer of dust rose into the air as rocks fell on top of the two mages.

Gray coughed, trying to clear the dust from his throat. He blinked his eyes open only to find utter darkness surrounding him. The light that had previously come through the opening was no longer shinning through. "Natsu… are you okay?"

No response came and the ice mage began to panic if a rock had hit him somewhere vital. Relief flooded him when he heard a grunt coming from above him. Wight shifted off of Gray which he assumed was Natsu sitting up. "I'm fine, just a little bruised." Gray felt warm hands pull him upwards into a sitting position. Natsu flicked his fingers and a small flame appeared in his palm, illuminating the cave. Natsu looked about, the ceiling directly above them was lower, but didn't look like it was about to give for the moment. Though when he glanced behind them they weren't as lucky, thick boulders had fallen in the passage way, preventing them from getting back out. "Shit."

"I told you this thing might not be stable." Gray stood up and pulled the fire mage up with him by his non fire holding hand. "What do you suppose we do now genius?"

Natsu punched the boulder blocking their way experimentally. A loud rumbling came from above them as he did. Gray swore and pulled him back just in case another collapse happened. "Idiot. Would you think ahead for once?"

Gray gave the ice mage an irked look. "Maybe I was just seeing if we could get back out?!"

"Maybe you're determined to get us killed!"

"Fine!" Natsu grabbed Gray's wrist and began to pull him deeper inside the cave. "We'll head this way and hope there's another damn opening somewhere. Happy now?!"

"Why would I be happy?! I'm stuck in this damn hole with you of all people!"

"Icy bastard, I'm trying to help you here!"

"You're the one that got us into this mess! Flame Freak!"

"Calm down, Ice Princess, I'll get us out of here."

"What did you just call me?! I don't care if we are stuck underneath this mountain. I'll still kick your ass from here to the other side of Fiore!"

Natsu smirked in the firelight. Annoying the ice mage was just too easy sometimes.

* * *

Lyon swiveled in Ultear's office chair. His older sister had yet to return and a sickening feeling was beginning to form in his stomach. Sure, there was a possibility that she was just running behind schedule, but…if that wasn't the problem he really didn't want to waste time.

He pulled open one of her desk drawers until he found the file he had told her about. He casually flipped through the papers, eyeing certain parts of interest.

He glanced up from the documents to the clock ticking by on the wall. He grinned his teeth together. He pushed himself up from the desk and set his mind. If Ultear wasn't back already he wasn't just going to wait around for her to show up.

* * *

A yawn escaped Natsu's lips. Hours of walking through the cave and they had yet to come to a dead-end. From the direction the cave was heading he guessed it would finally open up on the other side of the mountain (hopefully).

Gray rubbed his eyes. He was getting groggy and sleep threatened to overpower him every passing second. If he still didn't have a thing about not trusting Natsu (through he hadn't turned on him yet) and the fact he desperately wanted to get out of this hellhole he would have already gone to sleep on the cave floor. He looked up at Natsu's silhouette illuminated by his glowing fire. _Wait a second…_Gray squinted at his previous thought._ Glowing fire…_

Gray felt the urge to slap himself.

"Natsu…"

"Yeah?"

"Put that damn fire out."

"Huh?"

"It's the reason we're about to pass out. Fire needs oxygen to burn so it's taking what's in the air." Natsu blinked at him in confusion. Gray sighed and continued his explanation. "It's depriving us of oxygen."

Natsu blinked a few more times before something finally clicked inside his pink covered head. The fire in his palm went out, leaving the two in darkness, but hopefully they wouldn't run out of air before they got out of this damn cave.

Natsu had the sudden notion he should kick himself. Dammit, he knew about fire, he should have thought about that. He should at least have known more than _Gray _for must have looked like a complete and totalmoron.

_Why am I even trying to impress him?!_

Natsu ground his teeth together but ignored possible answers to that question. He felt his ways along the walls, trying to move forward. It was slower without a light to guide them, but it was better than suffocating. He inched his way across the stone floor, after a while he began to take large steps across the dark crevice. He continued onwards until-

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Natsu's foot slammed into a rock in front of him he hadn't seen, causing his knee to skim forward and fall face first onto the rock passageway he was trapped on.

"Natsu? Are you oka-"

Gray bumped into something that might have been Natsu and fell forward on top of the dragon slayer.

"Bastard, that hurt." The fire mage growled as Gray shifted off of him.

"Idiot. It's not like I did it on purpose. How 'bout you don't fall next time."

"Like I meant to!"

"Whatever, for now on I'm leading."

Gray got to his feet, carefully to not accidently step on the dragon slayer, (maybe not so careful). He traced his hands across the stone walls for guidance.

"Gray, are you in front now?"

"Yeah, take my hand so I can pull you along." Gray stretched his hand out to pull the dragon slayer. The ice mage stiffened as something grabbed onto him and not by his hand.

"Umm, Gray…"

"Natsu…"

"…Yeah?"

"Does that feel like my hand."

"Umm, no."

"Then maybe you should let it go."

Gray relaxed as the grip on his lower body released. Mumbled sorries came from the dragon slayer behind him. He managed to find Natsu's hand and yanked the dragon slayer up. "Let's never talk about this. Capiche?"

"Agreed."

Gray pulled Natsu along the dark corridor, cautious not to trip and fall like the pink haired idiot did. He'll be damned if he looked as dumb as the flame mage.

Natsu squinted his eyes he wasn't sure but he thought he saw something glimmer in the dark up ahead. "Hey Gray, think there's an opening up ahead."

Gray responded with a grunt and began to pull the dragon slayer along faster. Natsu saw the glimmer again and mentally confirmed his findings. He could only see it because of his advanced sight. It would be a while till they got there, but from here it was a straight shot to the exit of the damn cave.


	6. Igneel

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Sorry the update took so long, studying is kind of time consuming. But I'm done with my AP testing! Yay! I can goof off now. Anyways, enjoy! **

* * *

Lyon moved silently through the thick undergrowth. Following the map Ultear's files had led him to a dense, unhabituated forest in the middle of nowhere. Hell, it had led him out of Isvan. He had to prance around Fiore searching for this damn place for a while. He really had to talk to Ultear about her map making skills. A cat could have given him better directions than she had. After finally coming close to the damn location she had drawn out he still couldn't tell where Igneel supposedly lived. The ice mage had to travel up the mountain that was close by and use the high view to spot the position of a mansion.

Whatever kept Ultear from getting back better be a damn good reason. Having to come all this way was a pain. Especially in such short notice. She better appreciate him later.

A cry coming somewhere behind him caught his notice. Lyon spun around and searched for the noise. He wasn't sure, but it sounded like someone had yelled "free" at the top of their lungs. Whether it was a cry for freedom or of freedom he wasn't sure. He was positive it wasn't Ultear though. The voice was definitely male in tone. Lyon stood still for a few moments, listening to see if the cry would ring out again. After a minute of hearing nothing he shrugged it off and continued onwards. Wasn't his problem if some lunatic was running about in this forest.

* * *

"I'M FREEEEEE!"

Gray rolled his eyes as Natsu pushed past him and exited the cave, fists pumped high in the air like he just won a major victory. He himself exited the rocky prison and walked up to where Natsu was happily enjoying the surplus of fresh air. He hit the dragon slayer roughly on the head. "If your obnoxious voice causes a landslide on us I'm leaving you in the rubble."

Natsu rubbed the spot on his head where Gray thumped him but didn't shout again at least. "Bastard, who says you're not the one who would need the help getting out?"

"Says the guy who didn't trip over a pebble in there. Now shut it."

Natsu grumbled something unintelligible under his breath but that was it. The dragon slayer glanced around. The sun was disappearing over the horizon, taking the golden light with it. The mountain they had just come out of stood tall and proud against the sky. Thick vegetation consumed the ground in forms of trees, bushes, and shrubbery. A faint scent lingered on the air. Without knowing it a smile stretched across the fire mage's face in pure happiness.

"I know where we are!"

"Hmm," Gray glanced over to the other mage. "What was that?"

"I know where we are." Natsu sniffed the air while he was talking. A smell that made him feel warm and cheerful on the inside met his nose. It smelled like home. Not home home, like Fairy Tail, but his home away from home. "I can smell my father's house from here. We can spend the night there and then met back with the girls tomorrow."

Gray visibly paled at that. "Oh, geez, Natsu… I'm not sure that's such a good idea. I me-"

"Aw, come on. It's going to be dark soon and we haven't eaten since breakfast. It's just right through that woodsy area right there. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Gray was mentally screaming every word to show his hatred for this idea in his head. On the inside he was beyond panicked. What was he supposed to say to that? Sorry Natsu, I can't because your father would brutally murder me? Somehow that didn't strike Gray as the best possible response. "I'll have to pass on that one. It would be rude of me to impose on your father like tha-"

"Ah, stop with that polite crap. We both know you're an uncaring ice bastard when it comes to stuff like this." Gray narrowed his eyes at the dragon slayer, earning a dazzling smile in return. Natsu reached out and took Gray's hand in his own. "Besides, any friend of mine is a friend of his. He'll love to have you."

Natsu began to pull him forward and Gray glowered in disgust. It may seem like friendly bickering to Natsu but Gray wasn't his friendly rival. Just being called his friend was a major insult on his personality. Gray dug his heels in the ground, stopping Natsu in his tracks of dragging him along. "Natsu. Let. Go. Of. Me."

Natsu tightened his hold on Gray's hand and tried to pull him forward, but the ice maker mage wouldn't budge. "What's your problem Gray? You've going from annoying bastard to dark murderer in seconds. Just come on already."

"That may be an accurate depiction."

"What are you talking abou-"

Natsu froze as a hard fist rammed into his stomach. Gray pulled his hand free from Natsu and swung his knee towards the fire mage's head. Natsu recovered in time and caught the knee midair. He reeled his own fist back and sent a hit of his own at the ice mage's head. Gray stumbled backwards a few feet but managed to duck as another hit was sent his way.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Natsu sent a kick aimed at Gray's chest. Gray sent him a glare as the ice maker pounded his own fist into Natsu's right eye.

"Stop acting dumb already! I know you're working for your father. Stop with the innocent friendly crap and act the like ruthless bastard I know you are."

"What act?!"

Natsu dodged as Gray's fist scraped across his arm. "There it is again! I swear Natsu I'm not going to stop until you start getting serious. I don't care if I die in this damn mission if it means getting a shot at taking you down!"

"Snap out of it Gray! No one's going to die here." Natsu lashed out and grabbed Gray's wrist and pinned his arms behind him.

"Fine!" Gray twisted out from under Natsu and flipped the dragon slayer onto his back. "Then Igneel is!"

Natsu blinked as Gray just… turned and ran away from him. In the direction he had tried to drag him in! The fire mage watched Gray's back, stunned. The ice mage just had the weirdest, rapid mood swings he had ever witnessed.

_What's up with him?!_ Natsu shook his head at the thought. Gray was a strange one. He was cool and collected most of the time, but he had a serious side to him that showed above all else. Now he was suddenly over reacting to the tiniest things, just to change his mind in the end. Sure, the ice mage had seemed odd at the beginning, but he had gotten used to it. He had even noticed Gray watching him at times, something he was very good at making unnoticeable. Natsu had barely caught the action himself, but when he had he hoped it was for a reason that made his stomach go all fluttery. Like Gray was always watching him because he was interest-

"What the hell am I thinking?!" Natsu jumped up from his position on the ground. He glanced in the direction of his father's home, the direction Gray had disappeared to. "What did he even mean when he said Igneel is?" Natsu mused.

Natsu shook his head to clear the thought. Thinking wasn't exactly his favorite thing to do, taking action was. The dragon slayer took a deep breath before running after the ice mage.

* * *

Gray gritted his teeth in frustration. Overwhelming emotions were boiling inside him uncontrollably. All he could think of when Natsu first brought his father up was to stay away. Then he could only think of how much he _needed _to see that man. Hate wasn't a strong enough word. He had loathed Igneel since the day he took Ur away from him. There was no way he could forgive that. That bastard was going to pay for what he did.

He felt murderous. That was the only way to describe it. Someone was going to suffer tonight, and this time it wasn't going to be him.

A building loomed in the distance, a set of gallows would look more appealing than that home did, but right now Gray was running full speed towards it. "IGNEEL!" Gray slammed his fist against and open palm when the house was a few yards away. The largest iced hammer he had ever formed appeared in the air and smashed down on the mansion. The ice mage took pleasure in seeing the great house crumbling before him.

"Looks like Little Ultear had her baby brother finish the job for her."

Gray spun around at the mocking voice. Igneel was calming walking up from the side towards him. "What the hell are you saying?! Where's my sister?!"

Igneel waved his hand as if he was shooing a fly away. "She came and left like the coward she is. Took something of mine with her though. I would very much like that back."

Gray worked on impulse and ice lances shot out towards the man. Flames leapt up and melted the ice before they even came closer to him. Igneel "tsked" at him.

"Just like your mother. Ice cannot beat flames. It's that simple. Once you realize that you'll understand while all the efforts you've given your whole life mean nothing. Honestly, I was kind enough to spare you your life and your sibling's lives. This is how you repay me?"

"You tried to murder us!"

"Details."

Gray slammed his fist against his palm repeatedly in ice make stance. He didn't even care what he made anymore, as long as it pierced Igneel's black hole he calls a heart.

The older man let out a low growl. "I should have killed you when I had the chance. Save myself more than a decade of annoyance."

Igneel raised one hand and flames swirled around his palm. Gray didn't even have time to blink as a flame impaled his skin and went through his torso. The ice mage stared at the object in horror. Fire _pierced _him. Fire shouldn't be able to do that. Fire doesn't take form like that.

The fire mage raised his arm a bit higher and the flame going through the worthless boy in front of him responded. The flame rose several feet above the air before lashing back and slamming the raven across a tree line near the two. With a final flick of his hand the flame rammed Gray's body into the ground and sent him tumbling away from Igneel's sight.

Igneel sighed in annoyance. He had hoped Ur's flesh and blood could have put up a better fight. It wasn't even worth seeing if he had somehow survived that. A weakling like that would be dead within minutes if he had.

The man threw his head back in took a deep breath, smelling the air. "There's another one…" Igneel snapped his fingers a few times and a group of guards came from behind the house and up towards him. "One of the problem children is still out there. Go take care of them." The guards gave a brief nod before scattering in multiple directions.

* * *

Natsu pushed through the thick undergrowth surrounding his house. Sounds of crashes and sliced through the air earlier but silence had resumed after a few minutes. Whatever the commotion was it was all over now.

A thick smell drifted through the air. Natsu sniffed the familiar scent of Gray close by, his relief of finding him was short lived as the smell of blood followed like death. Natsu's feet moved towards the scent, slowly at first, unsure of what he would find, than faster in terror that Gray was in trouble.

The dragon slayer burst through the trees and a partly destroyed mansion came into view. He blinked, unsure if his eyes were playing tricks on him. The side of the house was destroyed into nothing but a pile of drywall with frost coating it. Scorch marks littered the ground, a burning smell drifted upwards from the fried grass. What he had remembered as trees from his last visit was now freshly splintered wood, something obviously having smashed into the trunks with an unforgiving force.

Natsu snapped out of his shock of the destroyed home when the smell of blood reentered his nose. He snapped his head to the side in the direction the aroma was coming from. His feet resumed moving in said direction. Panic flooded him as the odor of fresh blood became stronger with each step.

"Gray!"

The dragon slayer's eyes grew wide as a bloody mess crumped on the ground came into view. Burn marks covered Gray's pale skin in harsh, black streaks. Blood soaked the shirt he was miraculously wearing. In the center of his chest was a… oh, geez. Was that a _hole _in his chest?!

Natsu dropped to his knees next to the ice mage. His fingers traced Gray's neck until finding his pulse. It was faint, but it was there, he was just unconscious. Natsu laid his hands on Gray's open wound and began to apply pressure. Gray was completely still under his touch. Feelings of anxiety crept over the fire mage when the bleeding didn't show signs of slowing down. What was he expecting? It was a freaking _hole!_

The fire mage took in a deep breath before performing his famous, usually unwanted form of medical attention. Flames jumped from Natsu's hands to Gray's open, bloody wound. The smell of burning flesh assaulted his nose as the skin turned black under his hands. It wasn't the best temporarily fix. He only ever used on Macao a few months ago when they were desperate. All the other times he did this to himself. But what he had been told from everyone else, apparently fire hurts if you're not a fire dragon slayer (go figure), it pained Natsu knowing he was only increasing Gray's suffering. Though it was the best he could do, at least the ice mage was out for the worst part of this.

"Where is this guy?!"

Natsu's head shot up at hearing a voice somewhere behind him. A quick glance around revealed he was alone for the time being, but someone was just getting closer. Actually, it sounded like one of the guards that worked at the house.

"How am I supposed to know? Think it's that Vastia guy. Only so many mages have the nerve to come here. Who attacks Igneel anyways?"

Natsu tuned the voices out, partly in hopes that their words meant nothing. Who would attack his father? Igneel was a nice guy. If he knew Gray was hurt while this close to his stately manner he would make sure the raven's attacker saw justice.

So why was Gray bleeding and the house in pieces?

Natsu gritted his teeth. He didn't want to think. Not about the wreckage, or the guards words, or even what Gray said earlier. All he knew was that Gray needed help, and bringing him back to the house didn't seem like the best idea.

The dragon slayer slid his arms under Gray's hurt body carefully and lifted him up bridal style. It wasn't the ideal plan, but he knew where to take Gray.

* * *

Lyon ducked behind a tree trunk as an oblivious guard rushed passed him. He had already taken out quite a few but the noise of a fight just brought more. The sun had long set and only pale moonlight peeked through tree limbs to give him direction. He had only once gotten close to the mansion, and a gaping hole in the side of the building gave him the impression it wasn't Ultear's work, nor was she the cause of it.

The ice mage glided swiftly through the woods as not to draw attention to himself as he did so. The sound of a branch snapping in two made him freeze. Someone was out there trying not to make a sound but failed miserably. Lyon peeked around a tree towards the sounds direction expecting to see another guard but what he saw shocked him to his core.

A teen around his brother's age was moving through the forest with a set of determination on his face. The moonlight illuminated most of his body. Perhaps what stood out the most was pink hair partly visible in the dark night. The teen's features resembled Igneel's appearance so closely it was irritating. The ice mage gritted his teeth. What was Igneel's son doing here? Wasn't Gray supposed to be watching over him?

The teen moved forward and came more into view for Lyon. If the surprise of seeing the teen wasn't enough the blood covered mass in his arms was. A beam of light landed on the bloody figure's face, showing messy, dark hair partially covering a pale, recognizable face.

Natsu shifted Gray in his arms. The ice mage wasn't the lightest thing in the world to carry, but at least they were almost to the safe hou-

Something hard and cold slammed into Natsu's face and he fell backwards. The fire mage let out a grunt when his back hit the ground. Gray's body was torn from his arms and on impulse the fire mage lashed out at the attacker. Whatever had hit him before clashed into his temple and this time he recognized it as ice. But if Gray was unconscious….who was using ice magic?

Natsu rolled to the side as another attack was aimed his way. He shot to his feet and turned to his attacker. A man with snowy white hair had Gray thrown over his shoulder and his hands were in a position similar to the one Gray used for ice make. "Who the hell are you?!"

The man didn't reply as another ice creation aimed itself at Natsu's torso. The dragon slayer dodged and glared at the man. Something he overheard one of the guards say earlier came into his mind. Something about looking for that Vastia guy. Maybe he was the one that hurt Gray…

"Bastard! Give me back Gray!"

The white haired man ducked as Natsu sent a flaming punch towards his head. The man retaliated with a knee into Natsu's throat. The fire mage stumbled back, gasping for air. A hand twisted through his pink hair and jerked his head back. Natsu found himself being slammed into a tree.

Lyon glared icicles at the teen before him. "Are you the one who hurt Gray."

Natsu glared back. That wasn't really a question, it was an accusation.

"Why the hell would I do that?! Now give him back! He needs help now."

"You didn't answer my question." Lyon yanked the teens head back. "Now tell me, who has the nerve to hurt Gray?"

"Why do you care!" Natsu spat. "What do you have to do with Gray? Just stay out of this. It's none of your business-"

"Gray is my business." Lyon tightened his hold on the younger male. "Now were you the one to hurt my younger brother, or was it your disgusting father?"

"Huh?"

Natsu blinked. He had stopped listening by the time Lyon had insulted his father. His mind was caught on what he said before that. "Did you just say 'brother'? As in your Gray's bro-"

Lyon slammed Natsu with all the strength he could against the tree. The guy talked too much, and if the uneven breathing he felt Gray having was any indication, he didn't have time to chat.

Natsu felt the hold on his hair let go and he slumped down against a tree trunk. He faintly saw Lyon turn away from him and began to walk away, taking Gray with him. The dragon slayer tightened his fist in anger. He couldn't be able to call himself a Fairy Tail mage if he just let his comrade be taken away like that.

Lyon shifted Gray in his arms so the younger's head was resting comfortably on his chest. Dammit. He knew Gray shouldn't have been sent on that mission. Why did no one listen to him! Next time he wouldn't let him go off like tha-

"Hey! Wait up!"

Lyon froze as a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He turned his head slightly and saw the pink haired teen glaring at him in hate.

"Look, before you say anything, let me help you."

Lyon narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't need help from scum like you."

"Maybe you don't, but he does." Natsu nodded towards the boy in Lyon's arms. "The closest town from here is a few hours away. Gray can't wait that long. There's an abandoned cabin pretty close to here. There should be a first aid kit or at least something to clean him up. Just let me get him there."

"Why should I trust what you say?"

"Because you don't have a choice."

Lyon was silent for a moment, contemplating his options. "Lead the way, but if this is a trap I'm going to plunge an iced stake into your heart. Got it Dragneel?"

Natsu gave a brief nod. "Deal."


	7. Natsu's Disbelief

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Sorry it took so long to update, I ad a sign language presentation and a few other school projects I had to do. So anyways, who likes the new story image thingymabob? I thought about changing what Gray was saying but I couldn't think of what I should make him say. Oh well, that works I guess. Enjoy the chapter! **

* * *

"It should be over here."

Natsu forced his voice to stay stead. That Vastia guy had practically forced him to walk at least five feet in front of him at all times, just so he can keep an eye on all his movements at all times. He felt Gray's supposed brother's icy cold eyes bore into his back like daggers. The older man hadn't said a thing once more, just observed the fire mage in complete and utter silence. The fire mage turned his mind from the mage's glare to the task at hand. He was pretty sure the cast off cabin was near here. The last time he had visited the building he had been a little kid playing in the woods, and if memory served him right it should be right over…

…here!

Natsu sighed in relief. He had a feeling if he hadn't found it soon ice mage would begin to reconsider the fire mage's persuading and think him an enemy. Why he was thought one in the first place was still a mystery though…

The dragon slayer unceremoniously kicked the cabin's front door in. Lyon didn't even wait for the fire mage to get out of the way. He pushed past the younger mage and into the dark cabin.

A relieved sigh came from the older ice mage. A quick scan of the room revealed that no one else was inside, this whole thing wasn't an over complicated ambush. The cabin was the definition of simple living. Only one room connected from the main one, and an open door revealed that to be a small washroom. The rest was a simple one room structure. A single bed was pushed in the corner and that was the only form of furniture other than two chairs one the other side of the room along with a rotten chest. The ice maker mage made his way over to the bed in two long strides and laid the wounded man in his arms on the mattress. Gray didn't stir as he was transferred to the lumpy bed. If it hadn't been the soft breathing he was beginning to hear from the younger boy Lyon would have panicked by now.

Lyon lowered himself down by the bedside to get a closer look at his younger brother. The ice mage brushed a few strands of dark hair away from Gray's closed eyes. His eyes traveled down to the blood soaked shirt his younger brother was still wearing. He was able to make out a burn marks and a mangled wound beneath the tattered cloth.

Natsu blinked at the silver haired man now kneeling by Gray's side. Five minutes ago he gave off a cold, murderous aura. Now he was like a mother hen. He shook his head in dismay. The older man was just a mystery as Gray.

The fire mage returned the door to its rightful home on the rusty hinges. He looked up to check that the only window in the house had a curtain drawn over it before searching for a candle to illuminate the dark room. He moved over to the decaying chest and rummaged through it. His hand closed around on the slim, long, rounded piece of wax. Natsu withdrew the candle from the box and lit the wick with a small flame from his fingertip. A dim glow began to illuminate the room. He removed a candlestick and placed the waxy piece in it.

The dragon slayer cleared his throat nervously, trying to get the ice mage's attention. The ice mage slid his hard, black eyes over to him. "Umm, how is-" the white haired male turned his gaze back to his younger brother, ignoring Natsu's pressing question. Natsu muttered a curse under his breath, he only wished to know how Gray had been doing. His eyes widened as the older mage moved his hands towards Gray's chest. His eyes widened even more as the ice mage began to slowly unbutton Gray's shirt with his nimble fingers. Natsu couldn't help but feel himself stare at Gray's marbled chest as the shirt was removed. It's not like he hadn't seen it a few times already. The raven was a damn stripper for crying out loud! But he couldn't help admire it for some reason. If that messy wound wasn't there that chest would be perfection. For some reason he wished it was himself that had unbuttoned that shir-

What was wrong with him! Natsu felt his face heat up until he was sure it matched the color of his hair. He turned his back to the others in the room and stomped his way into the musty washroom of the cottage. He yanked open a cabinet on the wall and began to searched through it. A small case was among the contained items. Natsu picked it up before returning to the main room.

Lyon saw a hint of pink next to him from the corner of his eye. The dragon slayer sat beside him and slid a small case towards him, mumbling a "here" as he did.

The ice mage eyed the case for a moment before taking it in relief. The Lyon opened the first aid kit and let his training kick in. The ice mage picked up a dry cloth from the case and melted some ice on top, moistening it. The ice mage gingerly blotted the red covered pale skin of his brother.

Natsu forced himself to swallow the lump forming in his throat. "Umm…are you really Gray's brother?"

Lyon snapped his eyes over to the younger male; he quickly lost interest after a moment and retuned his gaze back to Gray. "What does it matter to you?"

"Well, I overheard some guards earlier saying they were looking for a Vastia guy. I figured they meant you. But Gray's last name is Fullbuster, so…"

Lyon snapped his eyes to Natsu in irritation, the tone at the end of the question causing most of his ire. "What?!"

Natsu held up his hands defensively. "Nothing. I was just, I mean, I was curious and al-"

"Are you always this ignorant?" Lyon cut him off. Natsu opened and closed his mouth like a fish, not sure how to reply. Lyon let out a long sigh. "If you're wondering if our mom got around get your perverted mind out of the gutter. It's for agency reasons genius."

Natsu furrowed his eyebrows. "Agency reasons?"

Lyon reached over and pulled out a roll of bandages from the first aid kit. "Don't tell me you're as stupid as you look." Lyon spread the strip of fabric across Gray's wound and burn marks. Though the raven required better than a quick patch job it was the best he could offer at the moment. At least the wound was burnt closed earlier and he hadn't lost too much blood.

Natsu watched silently as the older male worked. He tried to wrap his head around everything that was going on. This morning he and Gray had been at the train station with the girls and Happy to go on a mission. Now they were both completely separated from them and anyone else in the guild, Gray had gone berserk, ran away from him, wound up a bloody mess, and was now being tended to by some guy the fire mage doesn't even know the name of.

"So this agency thing…"

"So you are this obtuse." Lyon muttered under his breath, but not quiet enough that Natsu couldn't catch it.

"Could you just tell me what it is already!" Natsu snapped, losing his last shred of patience.

"If I do will you be quiet?!" Lyon barked. Natsu gave a short nod, giving the other his answer. Lyon rolled his eyes and lifted Gray up so he could work on his back before starting. "Gray and I work for an agency that's purpose is to expose and take down your father and stop whatever hell he plans to put people through. "

Natsu listened intently. He didn't want to interrupt but the other's words were beginning to bug him. His father would never make people suffer. He seemed fierce sometimes but on the inside he was kind to everyone.

"Basically it all started a few decades ago. Igneel started having a power complex. He and a few others started controlling lesser mages and guilds. They enslaved, trained, and broke mages until they matched their ideal image of a true mage. Igneel had a theory about magic and that it could unlock a way to gain power from it. After having mages in his power he began to spread his reign outwards. Eventually someone noticed and decided to do something about it. That's where Gray and I come in."

Natsu narrowed his eyes at the silver haired man now treating Gray's back. There was no way he could believe any of what the other just told him. Maybe he had his father confused with someone else. That was possible…wasn't it? His father wasn't an evil tyrant. No way could this be the same Igneel that used to make him pancakes when he was a kid or tell him to try again when he couldn't make his flames ignite fast enough.

"About a year after Igneel began to put his plans in motion an organization had already been formed to take him down. That would be the agency we're in. So of course once Igneel hears people dare to oppose him his goal becomes to eliminate them without mercy. Fast forward to current day and Igneel and his men and the organization Gray and I work for are still here. Neither had gotten enough of the upper hand to finish off each other. Happy? Now you know."

Natsu bit his lip. No, he didn't know. A thousand questions were running through his head at the moment, except he didn't know which ones to ask. The dragon slayer finally settled on the simplest one to start with. "What's your name and is Gray really Gray's name?"

"Lyon, and it's not a codename if that's what you're asking." Lyon gently laid Gray back down, finishing the patch work on the younger's back.

"So how come Gray was at the guild with me and not at the agency?"

"He was sent to gather information on you moron. Not that it matters. You're just as in the dark as we thought you were. Next time I won't have him waste his time on you."

"He was supposed to Spy on me?"

"Well weren't going to let Igneel raise someone to take his place."

"So Gray already knew me before he actually knew me?"

"Most of us do. We need to keep an eye on you after all." Lyon ran a hand through Gray's dark hair, trying to get his mind of the annoying questions being thrown at him.

Natsu couldn't deny it; he felt a little freaked out. Just how long has Gray actually known about him? "So how did you and Gray get involved?"

Lyon tensed at that. No one in the family liked to talk about the exact reason. It was an unspoken agreement to do everything they had these past few years. "That's a delicate issue."

"Huh?" Natsu blinked at the snowy haired man. "But there has to be some reason you care about all thi-"

"IT'S BECAUSE YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A FATHER KILLED OUR MOM!"

Natsu was shocked into silence. Lyon turned to him; anger was evident in his dark eyes. The temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees and you could hear a pin drop. The fire mage hadn't expected that answer. He didn't believe his father could- no, refuse to believe his father could murder someone. This had to be all an unfortunate misunderstanding. That was the only explanation. His father wasn't a killer and as a fellow Fairy Tail mage he wouldn't accept Gray as an enemy of his blood family. This just needed to be sorted out. Right?

Lyon eventually looked away from the younger mage. Why he was bothering to tell him everything he didn't know. Not that it mattered. Come morning he'll probably kill him and end any future concerns there might be about Igneel's heir.

Natsu dropped his gaze down to Gray's beaten body. His chest was beginning to rise and fall more normally than before. Too bad Wendy wasn't here; she could have healed him in an hour. There would probably be something she could do when they got back though. Now when they got back was the question. Erza and Lucy must have realized they were missing and started searching already. Natsu shivered at the thought of the scarlet coming after them. No doubt she'll punish them for causing her to search. A small smile spread across the dragon slayer's lips. Going home sounded like a fantastic idea. Once they got back to the guild they could just joke around and forget this whole scenario.

Lyon rose to his feet next to him. The fire mage looked up at him in curiosity. "Hurt him and I won't spare you." Lyon warned.

Natsu gave a brief nod as Lyon headed towards the cabin door. "Where are you going?" He called after him.

"Out," was the short answer. With that Lyon exited the small cabin, heading off to wherever he was planning to go. Natsu fleetingly considered what he might be doing, but the sound of Gray's breathing greedily drew his attention.

The dragon slayer scooted closer to the bed, where he could clearly see Gray's bruised face. Gray's dark eyes were still closed and strands of dark hair fell on part of his face. Natsu brushed the stands away gently. He traced his finger across Gray's hairline, than moved down to his cheek, followed by tracing his jawline, and ending at his lips. Natsu soothingly ran a finger over Gray's lips, feeling the ice mage beneath his touch. Natsu let his mind wonder about the raven. Had the only reason Gray has bothered to talk to him was to make sure he wasn't a threat? Natsu felt his heartbreak. That thought hurt, thinking Gray didn't actually like him. What were they? Nakama? Enemies? Did it even matter anymore? Tears welled up in Natsu's eyes. Did Gray not like him? He liked Gray, he realized that. Not like as in a friend, but _like _as in he would be teased by Happy or Lucy would squeal and write in her journal about it. How could Gray return those feelings if someone he loved had caused pain to him? Natsu sniffled and wiped the tears away with the back of his hand. He looked thru still bleary eyes at the raven. He cupped Gray's face in his hands and breathed in, trying not to let his mind convince him to stop what he was about to do.

Natsu leaned down and pressed his lips softly against Gray's forehead.

He wasn't greedy enough to take a kiss from Gray's mouth, he couldn't do that when the ice mage couldn't resist. It was still selfish. He knew he was greedy, but he needed it.

If Gray secretly hates him at least Natsu could remember him this way.


	8. Planning

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Fair warning, lots of changing perspectives in this chapter. Enjoy! **

* * *

"General Milkovich!"

Ultear watched as her second in command, Meredy, shot to her feet as she entered the cramp office. The pink haired youth raised her hand in a salute. A small smile formed on Ultear's lips. Of all the subordinates under her direct command Meredy was by far the closest one to her. She was practically a daughter even. Ultear gave a salute in return, allowing the younger girl to be at ease. Any normal agent would have taken that silent command and be done with it. Not, Meredy. The small girl practically tackled her in a bear hug as soon as the formality was over. Ultear ran a comforting hand thru the others long, dark pink hair affectionately. "Nice to see you too, Meredy"

Her second in command looked up at her with bright green eyes. "How did everything go?"

"Well enough. Though I imagine Igneel must be quite irked at the thought of someone getting into his manor without much trouble. He really should hire better watchmen."

"So did Igneel have anything?"

"You could say that." An evil gleam appeared in Ultear's eyes at the thought of the files she had uncovered. "I've already sent two messengers to inform General Mikazuchi and General Neekis. I give it a minute before Kagura storms in here demanding we take action."

"Are you?"

"Of course we are. But knowing Kagura, whatever plan I propose she's going to disagree with it and demand we follow her lead." Meredy let out a laugh at that. General Kagura wasn't known for her ability to be pliable by ideas that weren't hers. "But before I spend the next few hours of my life getting an earful from her, I should probably alert Lyon I'm back. I don't need him running off when I'm right here."

Nervous laughter came from the girl still in her arms. Meredy awkwardly pulled back from her arms and averted her gaze downwards, inspecting the floor tiles like they held a secret code. "Um, about that…"

Ultear raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Well, you see… you were supposed to be back a couple hours ago and…Lyon kind left to go look for you…"

"Huh?" Ultear looked at Meredy, disbelief mixing into her thoughts. "You're kidding…right? That moron didn't actually take off like that."

Meredy bit her lip, not wanting to let words tumble out of her mouth without putting thought into them. "Well…he was getting worried and so were a few others so Lyon decided to go-"

"HE LEFT!?" Meredy jumped at Ultear's sudden outburst. The older started pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself. "That _idiot,_ how many avalanches have gone off and fallen on that thick head of his? I swear I have no idea how we can possibly be related. Now I have to go all the way back just to save that pathetic ass of his."

"You most certainly will not."

Meredy looked up as the new owner of the voice entered the room. Kagura strode in, acting like she owned the damn place. Ultear glanced up to glare at one of the few people in this world other than her brothers that would dare talk to her like that. "What do you want, Kagura?"

"Has your time magic corroded your brain? We need to talk about what we intend to do with Igneel. Why else would I waste my time at this hour of the night?"

Meredy shrunk back as Ultear let out a low growl. When the time mage got like this not much would get her to calm down. "We're going to slaughter him. There's nothing to it."

"That was very much an extremist answer." Meredy let out a relieved breath as the calmest of the three generals walked gracefully into the room. Jura Neekis was the peace keeper of all of them. A number of times he had kept both female generals from jumping into action without thinking of the consequences. His logic and belief was undeniable no matter what sticky situation they were thrown into. "I suggest we hold an emergency meeting and discuss tactics. We can't rush into things just yet."

Three pairs of eyes looked at the tall man. Kagura formed her mouth into a thin line. Meredy shuffled from foot to foot, all too aware of the building tension in the room. Ultear was the first to speak. "I know that voice you just used, Jura. What do you have planned?"

"Just a small idea…"

…

* * *

He was on fire.

His body felt like someone had tossed it into an open oven and set him to bake into an ice mage casserole. His head throbbed and he was vaguely aware of a broken bone or two. His eyes were shut tight, but light still managed to wake him from his deep sleep. Or at least…he thought he was asleep. It was hard to tell. He imagined this is what being dead felt like, except he never thought being dead would be painful. Perhaps…he was dead.

He felt something warm touch him, but what or from where he couldn't tell. A minor tug pulled at him, trying to wake him from this black abyss of his mind. He ignored it. Whatever it was it could wait. It was peaceful here. He didn't know if it was where the tugging was coming from.

But that warmth was so delightful.

* * *

"Oi, Gray."

Natsu shook the raven's shoulder, trying to wake him. The ice mage gave no response. Natsu let out a long sigh. Gray had yet to stir since he found him hurt the day before.

"Wake up already Ice Block. We need to head back to the guild and get you fixed up."

"Dammit Flame Brain, can't you let a guy sleep for five more minutes!"

Gray cracked his eyes open and glared at the already beaming fire mage. Natsu had one of his gleaming smiles plastered brightly across his face. His eyes were lit up in excitement and a gleam of adventure was present in his black orbs. Damn morning people.

"Mornin' Gray."

Said person let out a grunt before trying to get up. Seeing him struggling in the act Natsu helped him to a sitting position, careful not to touch his injury. Gray looked around the small cabin he was in. "Where the hell am I?"

"Just a hideout I know about. Lyon brought you here after he found me carrying you last night."

"Hmm, well that ma- wait, Lyon's here!"

Natsu gave a small nod. "You two are brothers, right? Funny, you two don't seem that much alike."

"When did Lyon get here?"

The fire mage gave a small shrug. "Don't know. Come to think of it, he never said the exact reason why he was here." Gray shifted on the lumpy bed and swung his legs over the edge. He felt something clamp around his wrist and looked down to see Natsu holding firmly onto him. "You really shouldn't be moving."

Gray shrugged him off. "It's just a flesh wound."

Natsu pulled the stubborn ice mage back onto the bed. "At least let me change your bandages. We're not in an exact hurry."

Gray let out an irritated breath but allowed it anyways. Natsu swallowed, unsure how to start this process. He slid his fingers across Gray's bare chest, tracing the outline of the bandages. The ice mage relaxed against the warm touch as Natsu trailed his fingers across his cold skin. The dragon slayer shook his head to clear it of thoughts he was beginning to have. Realizing he was taking too long he hurried up his task.

Gray felt the tightness of the bandage wrapped tightly around him release and the material unbind from his body. Natsu was uncharacteristically quiet as he worked on his charge. Gray shifted uncomfortably, thinking of something to break the silence. "So…where is Lyon?"

"Hmm," Natsu reached down for a roll of fresh bandages from the first aid kit. "He didn't say where he was heading, just left all of a sudden. Hey Gray…"

"What is it?"

"Do you hate me?"

Saying he was caught off guard was an understatement. The raven glanced down at the teen still carefully tapping up his chest for him. "What brought that up?"

Natsu bit his lip. "Well…Lyon was explaining everything to me. I'm really sorry about…never mind. But there has to be some sort of a mix up here. It's just…" Natsu took in a deep breath, preparing for what he was going to say next. "Maybe we could all come to some sort understanding with each other put this all behind us. But leaving everything out I really don't want you to hate me because even though we haven't known each other for that long we're still guild mates so that makes us family. So please don't hate me because I really don't hate you." Natsu rushed out in a single breath, not giving the other a chance to interrupt him.

Gray stared at the pinkette for a few minutes, processing everything he just blurted out. Natsu looked up at him with pleading eyes, begging him to understand. "You know…you talk too much."

"Huh?" Natsu looked up warily as Gray forced his way off the bed and made his way to his feet. The ice mage swayed a bit but remained standing.

"You heard me." Gray stretched, working out the kinks in his muscles. "If you really want to know, I don't give a damn. You're Natsu. The end. I can't say if I like or hate you anymore. You're just some kid I was supposed to check out. True, at the beginning I wanted to kill you to get back at Igneel. Maybe it was the thought of Erza hunting me down if I hurt you, but I didn't want to get involved anymore. Igneel's my problem, not you."

Natsu watched as Gray shakily made his way to the door. Conflicted feeling overwhelmed inside of him. He couldn't tell if he should be relieved or terrified. Gray doesn't really hate him…but he doesn't really give a shit about him either. Not exactly a winning situation here.

Gray stopped in front of the door that Natsu had put back on its hinges the night before, his hand already on the rusty knob. "If I were you, I'd watch my back."

"Why is that?"

"If Lyon bothered to tell you everything he's planning something. Unless he has reason not to or suddenly gets amnesia he's going to do something against your favor. Fair warning, from one Fairy Tail mage to the next."

Natsu watched Gray's back as he wobbled out the door. His mind faltered along with his feelings. His mind reeled back to what Gray had just said. Not he part of Lyon being a threat. Big deal, people wanted to kill him all the time. But the second part! Even if it was just a favor from one guild mate to the next it still happened. Gray did care about him in some way.

Natsu got to his feet and followed the ice mage gleefully out the door.

* * *

Lyon ran a pale hand thru his silver colored hair. He proudly expected his work from the treetop that he used as an attack point. The Igneel manor laid in broken remains scattered across the ground. Shards of ice stuck up from the ground at random intervals, frost covered the ground, and guards were thrown across the landscape, unconscious. Funny, he had just shown up to see if Ultear was here. Turns out she wasn't, must have headed back by this time. Not that it bothered Lyon that he had destroyed a home worth around a hundred million jewels. Not if it belonged to the man that hurt his darling little brother.

The white haired mage carefully made his way down from the tree branch to solid ground. He strode back in the direction of the cabin he had left Gray in. Hopefully that pink haired moron hadn't tried anything.

* * *

Natsu walked several feet behind the hushed ice mage. Gray hadn't even bothered to turn around and make sure the fire mage was still following him. Nor had he said anything to him. Damn inhospitable bastard.

"Graaayyy," Natsu sang, trying to get his attention. "We are we going."

Gray flicked his eyes over to the dragon slayer for the first time since they left the stuffy cabin. "I'm going to find Lyon. You're going to leave me be."

Natsu groaned. "Why can't I help?"

"Just run back home to your dad."

"Stop acting so superior. Let's just look for Lyon and head back to the guild."

"I'm not going back to the guild."

Natsu stopped in his tracks, dumbstruck. Gray continued on his way leaving him behind. Natsu blinked several times and forced his mind to focus. He ran up and grabbed Gray's wrist in his own. "What do you mean you're not going back to the guild?!"

"Just that." Gray reached down and pried Natsu's hand off of him. "My duty is to my agency first. Fairy Tail was just a guild I joined to meet you."

Natsu stared at the ice mage in disbelief. "But…you can't do that."

Gray rolled his eyes "Why can't I?"

"Because Fairy Tail isn't supposed to be used for hidden motives, it doesn't work that way. People join because they have nowhere else to go or so they can take jobs. But even without all that, we're family, and family doesn't abandon each other."

Moments of complete silence passed between the two mages. Gray turned his head away, refusing to look the other in the eyes. "What the hell are you?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing, just forget it."

"Oh," Natsu studied the other for a moment. "Hey Gray, you're a man of your word, right?"

"I try to be."

"So if I do something for you will you do something for me?"

"What are you thi-"

"I'LL TAKE THAT AS A YES!" Natsu began sniffing the air like an over excited pup.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Natsu breathed in the deep forest air, a smile stretched across his face. He pointed to the direction left of them. "Lyon's scent is coming from this way. Come on!"

Natsu re-grabbed Gray, this time by his hand and dragged him off in the direction the scent was drifting from. "You're a freakin' animal. " Gray muttered under his breath.

Natsu shot him a grin, "and you're in my debt."

"Idiot, what could you possibly ask me to do?"

"It's a secret."

"I can't do anything for you if you won't tell me."

"I know." Natsu flashed him a dazzling smile. "This way you have to stick around until I tell you. No sneaking off."

"Has anyone ever told you your persistence can be suffocating?"

"No, but Lucy once said my brain was a smoldering fire."

"Moron, that's not a compliment."

"It's rather accurate though." Natsu froze as the new voice approached them. Gray turned to the direction he heard the voice come from and spotted a silver haired man walking towards them.

Gray waved over to the approaching ice mage. "It's been a while, Lyon."

"Hmm," Lyon eyed the fire mage still holding onto the raven's hand. "If I recall you still have a major injury. What went thru that thick head of yours to think you should be moving already?"

"Nice to see you too." Gray muttered.

"Shall we head back to hq now? We'll get someone to heal you up."

"But Gray needs to go back to the guild!" Natsu interrupted, only to be ignored by both ice mages.

"Guess so, what are you doing here anyway?"

"I'll tell you later." Lyon's eyes flickered to Natsu's tan face. "Let's just get rid of the nuisance before we head back."

"Wha-" Natsu's eyes widened as a sharp icicle formed in Lyon's hand and the silver haired mage walked calmly towards him. Lyon raised his arm holding the projectile high. The ice gleamed in the bright sunlight and the dragon slayer saw his stunned reflection in the frozen crystal. The point of the shard was aimed directly at his throat. Lyon brought the ice down in one swift motion.

Right down onto another piece of ice.

Lyon narrowed his black eyes into slits at the mage who got in his way of the execution. Gray stood coolly besides the terrified fire mage, his hands forming a protective iced shield. "What are you doing, Gray?!"

"Saving your ass." Gray raised his dark blue pools up to Lyon. "The guild he's in, Fairy Tail, isn't pathetic or forgiving. We kill one of their mages they'll destroy us and the rest of the agency."

The three mages were silent. Lyon gazed at his younger brother, then at the fire mage next to him. "If you think for a second I'm letting him roam free you obviously hit your head. What do you suppose we do?"

"I imagine Igneel would make a generous deal to us in exchange for his precious son."

Natsu turned angrily to the younger ice mage. Who cares if he did just save his life? Damn traitor, selling him out like that.

Lyon considered the idea thoughtfully. "It would certainly be to our advantage." The older ice mage looked down at the dragon slayer. "Very well, shall you do the honors, or should I."

"Honors?" Natsu questioned.

"You see Natsu," Gray reeled his fist back. "The thing about taking hostages, they can't know where you're taking them."

"What are you-"

"Sweet dreams, Flame Brain."

With that Gray's fist connected with Natsu's face and the dragon slayer's world went black.

* * *

The celestial mage panted as she grabbed onto the next boulder and pulled her tired form up. Next to her, Happy was suffering from the same task. His wings had become beyond tired and he was forced to make his way up the steep mountainside in the same manner the blonde and scarlet were forced to.

"Erza," Lucy gasped between much needed breaths. "Could we please stop for a minute, just to catch out breath. Happy and I are going to perish if we don't."

Several meters further up the mountain stood a knight in gleaming armor. The scarlet cast down a look at her weary companions. The requip mage hadn't even broken a swat during the climb. "Nonsense. If Natsu and Gray our on the other side of this mountain it is our duty to reach them."

Lucy groaned. The scarlet wasn't human. Happy collapsed next to her. The blonde reached an arm out and cradled the cat to her chest, adding weight to her climb. The only motivation to keep going was the fear of Erza if she didn't. Lucy had practically begged to let Virgo dig out the cave they had traced the boys to but the scarlet refused to let her. Declaring the cave unsafe and a little manual labor was nothing.

Climbing a mountain with only your hands was not nothing.

"Those two shall feel my wrath for leaving us to finish the mission for them. On my word they will suffer when we find them." Lucy shivered at the scarlet's words. If she hadn't needed to climb a mountain for them she would have felt bad for the two rivals.


	9. The Agency

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy the chapter and thanks for the reviews! **

* * *

Lyon had the knocked out form of no other than the young Natsu Dragneel slung over his shoulder, carrying the unconscious fire mage fireman style. After walking for what seemed like hours he and his brother had finally stumbled across a small town that was just big enough to have a train station. Bypassing any civilians that could be witness to either of the ice mage's presence they cautiously made their way around to sneak into the last compartment of the train. Only crates containing goods for transport were placed there, no one to see them, no conductor that would bother to look for them.

The older ice mage tossed the body he was carrying unceremoniously (and a bit roughly) against a wall of the train, right between two overly large containers. His brother slumped down next to the dragon slayer, sweat glistening on his brow. Lyon's mouth twitched into a frown. When he had asked what idiotic thought went thru Gray's head to make him think moving already was a good idea he wasn't being indifferent. If anyone would ask him if he loved his younger brother unconditionally and would even put his life on the line just to keep him safe he wouldn't hesitate even for a moment to reply 'yes.'

But that didn't mean he didn't think Gray could be dullard at times.

He kneeled down next to the sweating raven and ran a hand soothingly through the tangled dark hair. He pulled the younger male into his arms until his head was resting comfortably on the older's chest. Gray gave a few unsteady breaths before calming down and drifting to sleep. Exhaustiveness over taking him from the energy he wasn't ready to use.

"You really should take better care of yourself."

All he received in response was the soft sound of Gray snoring.

…

* * *

"That doesn't work!" Kagura yelled over the bickering of everyone else in the room. Ultear shot her an irked glare but that was all. Jura stood in the corner, rubbing his temples as everyone else refrained from tearing one another's head off. After arguing for what seemed like eternity the three general decided to call upon the tactics section of the agency. Of course once tactics got involved so did the colonels, followed by the majors, and eventually the captains. After the room became too crowded they kicked the captains out. Afterwards they decided the have the colonels leave. They were much better suited for this than the majors, but they needed someone in charge to run the agency while the three generals were in a meeting. At this point only five people hadn't been kicked out of the room.

Kagura and her major, Millianna (how the cat obsessed mage became of major rank was a mystery to all). Ultear and her major, Rufus (who she swore could take down Kagura's major). Lastly was General Jura, though since his major was Lyon it was a given his wasn't present.

"Then what do you propose?" Ultear gritted out through her teeth.

"If we attack from the west he can over take us in the east. We should go through the north to get to hi-"

"Then we are defenseless at the south end." Jura interrupted. "Going east is out best option."

"Then we allow him to escape by going northwest." Ultear warned.

Rufus cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "If we organize an offensive troop directly north we can follow a curved path and roundabout to the south."

"But then Igneel can have his men attack us at our southeastern front." Millianna purred, adding a meow at the end.

"Then we can move to the cove an-"

"No, the mountain."

"As I was sayin-"

Meredy let out a sigh as she heard rising voices coming from the conference room. By the sound of it you would think the generals and two of the majors were having a contest on who could yell the loudest. She sat patiently outside the door, waiting along with one of the privates by the name of Coco. Unlike Meredy the private was there to run any errands one of the general may call for, which they did require to go on quite often. As for Meredy, she was waiting for the massacre.

A loud crashing came from inside the room followed by more yells. A moment later the office door cracked open and the form of Millianna peeked out. "Umm, Coco, could you maybe get us another vision lacrima? Ours kind of…broke."

Coco gave a small salute to her superior. "Yes, Major."

"Thank yooouuuu," Millianna purred, flicking her tail back and forth. The young major went back in the room, closing the door behind her. Though Meredy saw a peek inside before the door slammed shut and saw the unmistakable scene of Ultear strangling a clawing Kagura.

_Generals…_

Coco made her way towards the exit.

"Hold on a sec."

The small, brown haired girl stopped at the sound of Meredy's voice. The pink hair higher up jumped up and walked closer to the door.

"I'll come with you. I don't want to be around when the apocalypse starts."

Coco gave the older a warm smile and together they made their way down the bland hallways of headquarters. A few agents were ambling around; others were rushing to and fro, trying desperately to finish assignments. Others didn't seem to have an obvious goal, just completing miscellaneous tasks. Meredy couldn't help but notice how the younger girl's eyes would sparkle whenever they pass a sergeant and others with a higher rank than herself.

"They really are something."

The small private looked up at the older agent in confusion. "What was that, Sergeant Meredy?"

"All the agents… It's no wonder you admire them so much. It's amazing how hard they work and their perseverance. Same goes for you. I just know you're going to go far someday."

A small blush adorned the younger's cheeks. "Thank you, Sergeant. I hope I can meet your expectations."

Meredy rolled her eyes. "You don't have to be so formal or modest. Besides, it's not like you came here hoping to be a private for the rest of your life. So tell me, what training have you done for moving up a rank?"

"Umm, well…" Coco hung her head down, not sure where to start. "Sergeant Gray is kind enough to work with me on fighting and such."

"Still with the formality." Meredy sighed. "Especially with Gray, you don't need to be so official. It's not like he cares anyway, plus he practically thinks of you as an adorable little sister. Not much reason to be serious with him."

"Does…does he really?"

"You bet!" Meredy flashed a reassuring smile. "Why else would he always be looking out for you? You respect him like a sister would brother too. Heck, I bet you even think he's the ideal sergeant."

"Of course!" Coco exclaimed, her previous nervousness evaporating. "He's one of the strongest mages I've ever seen! No one stands a chance against him."

"Oh," Meredy narrowed her eyes at a figure coming down the hallway towards them. "Is that why his slung over Lyon's shoulder like a sack of potatoes?"

"Huh?" Coco looked over to were Meredy was gazing. A tall figure with silver white hair was walking down with two bodies flung over each of his shoulders. One of them being the well-known form of Gray Fullbuster. The other being a teen with tan skin and rosy locks that she had never seen before.

Meredy waved over to the snowy haired approaching Major. "Hey Lyon, you're back sooner than I thou-"

"Take this." The major cut her off, throwing the unconscious body of the pink haired one to her. Meredy let out a small yelp but managed to more or less "catch" the boy, mostly less. The teen let out a low moan and stirred a bit, only to have Lyon hit him in the back of his neck and fall back into his previous state.

"Umm, Lyon, who is this?" Meredy glanced at the teen's tan face.

"I'll explain later. Coco, go tell Ultear to meet me in the medical wing."

"She's in a meeting with the other Generals, sir."

"Tell her there's been a change of plans."

Coco gave a small salute before rushing back in the direction she had just come from. "What about him?" Meredy gestured to the rosy haired teen.

"Throw him in a holding cell for now."

With that Lyon moved past her, heading towards the medical wing. Gray breathed harshly into his back. The younger ice mage hadn't been able to move after they arrived at their stop. He only managed to keep his eyes open for a while before falling back asleep.

Lyon made his way down the winding hallways before arriving in front of two double doors with the sign 'Medical Division' above them. He flung both open and strode in. A girl with dark pink hair looked up at him in surprise from his sudden entrance. A pink heart was stitched across the left side of her chest, indicating she was head medic. Lyon laid the younger male on an open bed on one side of the room and the girl immediately rushed over.

"What happened?"

Lyon let out a long breath. "Gray's an idiot."

The medic didn't say anything as she checked his pulse then began to undo the bandages wrapped around his wound. She let out a low whistle at the black and crimson mess on Gray's chest. She placed both of her hands over the wound and a faint purplish glow began to pulse. Lyon watched with mild curiosity as the young medic worked. Slowly, Gray's breathing began to even out and the wound started the heal itself.

A small smile formed on Lyon's lips at seeing his brother getting visibly better. "Thanks Chelia, you're a lifesaver. Literally."

The young medic gave him one of her casual bright smiles. "Don't mention it."

Lyon opened his mouth to say something but before he could the doors swung open with a loud bang and in walked Ultear, looking like she could strangle someone with just her glare.

"Lyon!"

Said person flinched as the angered General stormed up to him. "Hey, sis. It's been awhi-"

"You moron!" Ultear glowered at her younger brother. "Why the hell did you go off like that?"

Lyon narrowed his eyes at her. "You're the one who told me to if you weren't back in time."

Chelia sighed as the two continued their bickering. High ranking officials or not, siblings will be siblings. She finished her work on the wounded raven and cleared her throat, gaining the siblings attention. "He's going to be just fine, but I would like for him to spend the night in here just in case."

Ultear gave a short nod before focusing on her youngest brother. He looked a bit scuffed up but wasn't in too bad of shape thanks to Chelia. She turned her attention back to her white haired brother. "You have five seconds to explain why you brought Gray back and why he's unconscious. While you're at it you have to explain this 'change of plans' you had Coco tell us about."

"Right, I'll explain. But I think the other Generals might want to hear the last part."

* * *

Natsu let out a painful moan as he came to. His head hurt, as did his neck. His vision slowly went from blurry to clear. He blinked, unsure where he was. Four thick stone walls surrounded him. A faint dripping of water could be heard, the room was dark and musty. The floor felt damp, there obviously was a leak coming from somewhere. A single window cast barely a line of light on the floor. He could just make out the outline of a door with steps leading up to it. A scurrying noise came from somewhere, rats must have made their home here. He tried moving forwards only to hear a clinking sound and found himself unable to move. He glanced down, noticing a heavy shackle around his ankle chaining him to the wall.

Understanding finally dawned on him.

"THAT DAMN ICE BASTARD!"

Gray and that Lyon bastard really had taken him prisoner. Then had the nerve the throw him in a freaking _dungeon. _Who tosses someone in a dungeon? Doesn't that only happen in badly plotted stories?

Natsu summoned his flames into his hand and smashed them against the metal of the cuff. Instead of breaking like he had expected it to, a blue lightning shot out from the manacle and engulfed his body. His head fell back in a silent scream as the magic washed over him.

When the pain finally cleared Natsu gazed back at the restriction. Not even a scratched adorned the tough metal. The organic link magic had died down and the cuff seemed like an ordinary piece of metal. Natsu muttered a curse before trying to break it once more, only to feel pain swallow him again.

The dragon slayer wasn't known for his ability to think things through.

The fire mage pulled away, letting out a heavy pant. It felt like he just felt the wrath of Erza's Blumenblatt attack. Yet the shackle appeared to be in perfect condition. Natsu mumbled every curse he could think of onto Gray. Gray just couldn't let him leave. He had to put the idea of taking him hostage into Lyon's head. Now he was stuck in a damn stone box of a room with only the rats as his friends.

"He is so going to pay for this."

His ears perked up as he sounds of footsteps came from outside the cell door. He heard the unmistakable sound of a key being inserted in a lock and the chamber door opened. Light flooded the dark cell and Natsu had to avert his gaze as his eyes got used to the surplus of light. When he did look back two figures were standing in the doorway, looking down on him. One had long black hair that fell to the middle of her back. She wore a white blazer with gold trim and red on her shoulders. A sheathed sword was strapped to her side. The other figure was a tall, muscular man with a bold head. A strong, powerful magic aura was coming from both of them. Something Natsu should have realized if he had the brains to pay attention.

"Natsu Dragneel," The female started. "For being an accessory for crimes against humanity we have placed under temporary ar-"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

The woman narrowed her eyes at him, irritated at being interrupted. "As I was saying, you are under temporary arrest by the authority of-"

"You didn't answer my question!"

In two strides the annoyed woman crossed over to him and placed her hands around his throat. "I am one of the persons placed with the responsibility of making sure you remain an inactive prisoner. Now stop interrupting me." Natsu didn't reply, probably because the hand his around his throat prevented him from doing so. "You shall be placed on trial tomorrow and are subjected to us and other superiors until then. Afterwards you will be found guilty and imprisonment shall be carried out. Understood?"

Natsu managed a weak nod, the lack of oxygen beginning to affect him. The woman released her hold on him and he crumpled to his knees, gasping for air.

"You shall be constantly monitored at all times. Any attempts to escape will be exterminated and punishment will be dealt out. Any rebellion against guards and/or other beings shall result in severe penalty. Information in your possession will be handed over to our intelligence. Knowledge regarding bring harm to someone either directly or indirectly will either be exchanged or you face more charges being pressed against you."

Natsu saw the man behind her position himself on the outside of the door, taking a defensive stance.

"During your trial tomorrow you are expected to follow orders, show respect, and not speak unless spoken to. Till then you are to stay here until someone comes for you tomorrow. That is all."

The woman turned on her heels and exited the room. Natsu stared at her retreating back, wondering if everyone here was just as friendly as her. The door slammed shut behind her and a lock clicked into place. He had a feeling the man was waiting outside the door, designated guard for him for the time being.

The dragon slayer pulled his knees up to his chest and closed his eyes. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"He's going to be fine. You don't have to look so worried."

Ultear glanced up as a white haired man slid in the seat next to her. The two of them sat together next to Gray's bedside, waiting patiently for the youngest to wake up. "I know it's just…I still picture him as that little kid that always wanted someone to hold his hand, and now…"

"Now he's all grown up and goes off to have the shit beat out of him just so he seems tough." Lyon finished for her.

Ultear gave a small smile. "Just like someone else I know."

Lyon gave an indignant snort. "What are you implying?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about all the times you used to pull idiotic stunts when you were younger. Guess Gray's going thru that phase right now."

"You should listen to yourself. You sound like an old woman saying words like that."

"This coming from someone that acts like a mother hen more often than not."

Lyon opened his mouth to retort but a movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention. Gray shifted on the bed, changing positions. The two of them waited for him to open his dark blue eyes but a soft snore let them know the raven drifted back off. "Lazy." Lyon grumbled.

Ultear let out a short laugh. "He always did prefer sleeping over dealing with us."

"He always preferred me over you too." Lyon grumbled, earning a punch in his arm from his sister. "Ow, this is why he never went to you when we were kids. You're a freaking demon."

"Really? Because I remember a number of times he came to me asking about ice making. Now I wonder why he didn't go to you…"

Lyon narrowed his eyes at her. "He asked me plenty of times to help him."

"True. But guess who he went to when asking about complicated spells. 'Because Lyon-nii didn't know how to do them,' as he would say."

"I was a little kid! Why Gray even asked about those spells was beyond me."

"Still couldn't do them."

"Whatever, at least he never thought I was terrifying like you."

"Hey, I'm the nice one. I was just waiting here for my precious little brother to wake up. Then you come in and ruin this perfect family moment."

"How did I ruin it? You started this whole argument."

"Will you two both shut up."

Lyon and Ultear glanced over to the bed where Gray had one eye cracked open.

"I swear, both of you talk sometimes just to hear your own voice."

Ultear reached out and ruffled Gray's dark hair. "Nice to see you awake, Sleeping Beauty."

Gray rolled his eyes. "How am I supposed to sleep with you two here? A bomb could go off and it would be quiet compared to you both."

"Sorry Gray, next time _Ultear_ will keep her voice down." Lyon glared over at his sister.

"Oh, so I'm the irritating one. At least it's better than being a conceited bastard, and you," Ultear narrowed her eyes at the youngest. All her previous loving and caring thoughts disappeared. "What moron goes and gets the shit beat out of him that easily? Do you own a brain?"

"I missed you too, sis."


	10. The Trail

**I do not own anything. Thanks for the reviews everyone! You all very sweet. Enjoy! **

* * *

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

The snowy haired teen watched the younger male wearily as the raven made his way shakily to his feet. The younger swayed a bit, but remained standing. Taking a cautious step he moved forward towards the door leading out of the room. Without warning his knees buckled out from under him and he collapsed forward. In one swift movement the taller mage gathered the younger in his arms before the raven hit the cold tiled floor. Medic, or no, there wasn't a single person alive that would be in perfect condition after the blow he took, and after using all that energy yesterday when he needed medical help the younger overexerted his self beyond belief.

"It's not like you have to go, the trial's just a formality." Lyon slung one of Gray's arms around his neck, supporting the raven's weight against him.

"I know, it's just," Gray took another step forward with Lyon's help. "He was my charge to begin with, besides, it's not like I have anything better to do."

The raven limped a few more steps with the older's help. Lyon was vigilant with his brother, making sure the shorter didn't stumble or outright fall over his own two feet.

* * *

Natsu's head shot up as the door to his prison slammed open. A woman different from the one he saw yesterday waltzed in. She had long dark hair with a tint of purple to it. She had pale skin that was strikingly familiar to that of Gray's. The cold aura that surrounded her made the room feel like a snowstorm suddenly taken place.

She kneeled down next to the dragon slayer and placed a set of magical handcuffs around his wrist. Next she hovered her hand over the restraint on his leg and the metal cuff opened. A dark bruise was wrapped around his ankle from where he struggled against the manacle. She grasped onto his arm and yanked him up. Pulling him out of the dark room he made his way up the stairs and stepped into a brightly lit hallway. The bald man that had watched him yesterday was gone, instead group of guards stood by, ready to escort him towards his doom.

Natsu shuffled his feet forward. The pain of sitting chained up for a night began to set in. Everything from his neck to his back ached as he was forced to walk. The hunger pains shot sharp spikes in his stomach, not eating for more than a day had taken its toll, and left him starving.

He was led to an open chamber that greatly resembled a courtroom. A banc stood on one side of the room that was actually made of three separate seats instead the traditional one. Down one side were several rows of benches forming what he guessed was for a jury, whether one would be used or not he wasn't sure yet. On the other side and down the middle was empty seating that was being slowly filled in.

The woman that had brought him here moved closer to the front and set him down at the stand at the front of the room. After that she left and only the guards that helped escort him remained. More and more people started coming into the room, almost all of which took the spectator's seats. One spectator caught his eye in particular. Gray was limping in, being supported by his brother Lyon, and took one of the seats out of direct sight, more toward the side of the room. The woman who had escorted him here moved over to the two ice mages. Natsu watched in mild curiosity as the three of them began a conversation quite enough that even with his inhuman hearing abilities he couldn't make it out. Gray nodded towards Natsu's direction and said something to the woman. Said recipient of that message flicked her eyes over to the dragon slayer for less than a second before returning her attention to the young ice mage. From the look on their faces the conversation became very serious very fast. Finally the woman gave a brief nod and left the two ice mages. Gray muttered a few last words to his brother and a displeased look crossed the older's face.

A gavel rapped on a sounding block and all disparate conversations hushed. The woman that just talked to Gray sat at one of the three judge's seats. The other two were being filled by the woman that had lectured him yesterday and the tall bald man who had kept guard outside his room all night. All eyes turned to the three judges with a respectful atmosphere rising in the room. Natsu's stomach sunk. Serious situations were not his forte. These people were going to mercilessly eat his heart out.

"Natsu Dragneel," The woman from yesterday began. "You have been summoned to appear in court today for a trial of innocence. If found guilty, you will serve whatever punishment the court sees fit. You may argue your innocence for yourself and your self only. Any attempts to argue the innocence of others will be disregard. Do you understand."

The fire mage took a moment to process everything she just said. "I guess, but I just have one question…why am I here?"

Murmurs of laughter filled the room and he swore he say Gray roll his eyes. Did his question seem that stupid?

The woman narrowed her eyes at him dangerously. "General Milkovich, the charges if you please."

The woman who had talked to Gray a moment before spoke up. "For being an accessory to crimes of inhumane nature and failing to report illegal activity that resulted in devastation you have been call-"

"But I haven't done anything!" The dragon slayer burst. "This is ridiculous. I've never been involved in or known about any devas-"

"Enough!" The woman with the sheathed sword cut him short. "Unless you have any hard evidence that proves your innocence, do not interrupt." Natsu opened his mouth to say something but with a stern look from her he shut it. "Now, General Neekis, what has your observations of the defendant shown of his character?"

The bald man finally spoke for the first time since the Fairy Tail mage saw him. "The accused has proven to be more or less behaved under restraints. I suggest a less harsh punishment for the time being."

Natsu took a sigh of relief. At least someone here had a heart.

"Very well, what else?"

The next half hour passed in a blur. Questions were thrown at him faster than he could answer them. He managed to learn the three judges were Ultear (she was more of an uncaring judge unless she could argue with someone), Kagura (who openly hated him), and Jura (who seemed as nice as Makarov back at the guild). Also, a majority of the people in the room hated him too. He had spent the last thirty minutes pleading for his innocence only to have his words fall on deaf ears. There wasn't a single person who wanted to help him. Not even Gray, the damn ice bastard. After what felt like forever the three judges stopped listening to evidence and pleas and talked amongst themselves. He didn't listen in. He already knew what was going to happen, though the glares and dirty looks shot between the two woman judges didn't go unnoticed.

So when the gavel slammed down once more he didn't even bother to hope for the best.

Kagura turned to him with an evil gleam in her eye. "Natsu Dragneel, the court has found you in all aspects, guilty. Some thought and consideration has been put in a suitable punishment." She flicker her eyes over to Jura, signaling him to talk.

Jura cleared his throat, earning the attention of all in the room. "Seeing as how a prisoner exchange will most likely take place after Igneel is informed of the situation, I have voted for a lighter form of punishment for the time being."

"As for my vote," Kagura spoke again, "I am not as generous to overlook your crimes. I have voted for heavy solitude as your sentence. Seeing as how the two votes differ at both ends of severity, General Milkovich will decide the final outcome." Natsu noted how her mouth twitched at that, and how Ultear smirked.

"Whether my vote is considered biased or not is debatable." Her dark eyes slid towards Gray's direction for a moment. "But seeing as how you've been involved in grim crimes, I am inclined to agree with General Mikazuchi that it cannot be over looked. However," Natsu perked up at that word. "Seeing how you have saved the life of an agent by having cauterized a fatal wound that as well cannot be overlooked. I vote for a mild form of punishment."  
Kagura grinded her teeth together. "As it stands, the votes even out for a medium form of penalty. Considering that an agent has been previously assigned to you, you will remain in his watch. Consider this a type of house arrest except your residence will be here. Case dismissed."

"Huh?" Natsu blinked in confusion as people rose and began to leave. Questions of what the hell just happened rang through his head. A guard came up to him and fiddled with the handcuffs still around his wrist. He removed the connecting chain but the two bracelet parts remained, cutting off his flow of magic.

One of the generals, Ultear, passed by him. She leaned down next to him and whispered in a low voice against his ear. "Consider this as payment for taking care of Gray."

Before he could question what she meant she was already gone. Gray hobbled up to him, still using Lyon as a human brace. "Oi, Ice Pop," Natsu waved one of his semi free hands at the raven, "what just happened?"

"Calm down Flame Head, that whole thing was just a formality."

"Huh?"

Lyon rolled his eye at him. "Think for once, will you. The verdict was already planned, they just gave you a trial so it would seem fair."

"But what was that last part about house arrest?"

"It means you're stuck here, and I'm in charge of you." Gray replied. "So don't do anything stupid, it'll make me look bad."

"So they're not throwing me back in solitude in the basement?"

"No, it's worse. They're throwing you into my company, in my bedroom."

…

"It's over here, second door on the right."

Gray motioned down a hallway with a handful of doors lining the walls. After leaving the courtroom Lyon had to leave, and it had been up to Natsu to get the ice mage back to his room. After traveling down a number of antechambers that would have confused the fire mage had he not had a guide to give him directions they finally made it to the male residence part of the agency building.

The dragon slayer helped the raven down the hallway and stopped in front of the previously mentioned door. Gray fiddled with one of his pockets for a moment. Eventually he took out a key card and slid through some sort of box thing and the door unlocked. Natsu removed his hand from Gray's hip and let the ice mage walk in by himself. (At first he had his hand on the other's shoulder, but it kept slipping lower and lower and for whatever reason Natsu didn't feel like moving it back up. Gray hadn't even mentioned anything about how far south the hand traveled.

Natsu followed the ice mage into the room. A single window was opposite the door and a bed was pushed into the corner right below it. A nightstand and a dresser made up the rest of the room's furniture. A small bathroom was on the other side and even from where he stood he could see there was even a shower in the washroom. The dragon slayer let out a low whistle, truth be told, it was actually a pretty decent bedroom, a little plain is all. Of course after spending the night with rats anyplace would seem luxurious.

Gray watched as Natsu adopted sudden childlike characteristics and did a belly flop onto his bed. The dragon slayer clutched the soft pillows to his chest and snuggled against the mattress like a little kid at nap time. The ice mage resisted the urge to groan in annoyance, instead he maintained his normal voice, though it held a bit of vexation. "Get off, you're filthy."

Natsu sent him a glare. "You spend the night chained to the wall and then resist the appeal of a soft bed."

"It's almost pathetic how much of a weakling you're making yourself seem."

"Bastard, do weaklings at least get food? I'm starved." Natsu's stomach growled on impulse, backing up his statement.

"Weaklings are weak. Ergo I don't waste my time feeding them."

"Too bad I'm your charge. Looks like you have to take care of me."

Gray gritted his teeth together. How did he become a babysitter? "Fine, just let me take a shower first. Then we'll get something to eat." The raven walked over to the bathroom and sent one last look to the dragon slayer before walking in. "Do try to not incinerate my room. Oh wait…looks like you can't."

Natsu blinked a few times before catching on. He grabbed one of the pillows off the bed and sent it sailing towards the still capable mage, only to have it hit an already closed bathroom door. "Bastard." Natsu went to retrieve the pillow before returning to the bed. The sound of running water came on and that was the only sound present in the room.

The rambunctious fire mage maybe sat still for a total of five seconds before his energy demanded to be used. Mayhap he's been spending too much time around Lucy, but his curiosity on someone's personal life was just so overwhelming he resulted to her level and began, as the blonde put it, "snooping."

The dresser contained mostly clothes, which to the dragon slayer was as stimulating as a paper bag. The nightstand wasn't much better. Nothing really caught his interest. One drawer held a pile of random objects inside. He was fiddling with a deck of beat up playing cards when the ace of hearts slipped from his hand and became stuck standing up on the side of the drawer. After giving it a pull the card proved to be wedged tightly between the two pieces of wood. He ducked his head down to the bottom of the drawer; perchance pulling from the bottom would be easier.

"What the…"

Natsu double checked he bottom of the drawer. The bottom of the card wasn't peeking thru. Natsu glanced back into the drawer, the card was definitely at least halfway past the bottom. So why wasn't it sticking out?

The fire mage traced his finger along the edge of the wood. An idea popped into his head. Lucy had once told him of a mystery book she was reading and about where they found the evidence, maybe this was like that book. He dug his nails into to crack where the two pieces of wood met. His eyes widened as the bottom of the drawer moved and he was able to lift it up. Natsu moved the false bottom to the side and inspected the contents that the drawer had concealed from plain sight.

Mostly old official looking files were inside, none of which the fire mage thought of as worth looking at. A few medals were inside, probably agent recognition or something. A yellowed cutout newspaper article was below the badges and paperwork. Being the first thing that he found remotely interesting of course he had to look it over. The word "Missing" ran across the headline. The dragon slayer scanned the first few lines of the piece. A majority of the article was smudged from years of age and the ink could no longer be read. After giving up on making out the first few lines he skipped down a few. '…reported missing, mother of three. Disappeared last Saturday with no trace. Presumed dead…' The ink smudged again and the rest of the article couldn't be read. Even if he couldn't make out the name of the missing he had a pretty good idea of who it was. He placed the paper back down and shook his head, trying to clear it of the uncomforting thoughts it gave.

An overturned picture frame in the back of the drawer was the only thing that remained. Natsu picked it up and examined the front. A burnt photograph was placed inside. The edges had turned black and become jagged. The picture included a short haired beauty with warm eyes and a curvaceous figure. Natsu felt himself smile at the picture. Now he knew where Gray got his good looks. Next to her stood a girl of about ten, with long dark hair cascading down her back. Something about her seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. On the other side of the woman was a boy probably a year younger than the girl. His snow white hair stuck up at odd angles and a smile was placed gracefully on his lips. Natsu felt his jaw drop as his eyes traveled to the space in between the two children and his gaze landed on a certain someone.

Even with the age difference of Gray now and the Gray in the picture, he looked strikingly the same. His messy black hair covered his forehead and had a soft look to it that only young children could possess. A thin layer of snowflakes dusted the top of his head. A bright and cheery smile he had never seen the ice mage beam himself was placed on his rosy pink lips. His dark blue eyes seemed to shine with optimism. His whole expression read lovable child. Gray looked like a little angel to him.

Perhaps if he wasn't so caught up in ogling the picture of younger Gray he would have realized the sound of running water had been cutoff.

"What are you doing?"

Gray suppressed a smirk from coming to him at seeing the startled dragon slayer jump a foot in the air at his sudden appearance. Natsu's face turned the color of his hair and he hurriedly opened and closed his mouth like a fish in dire need of water. "I-I, I was just, just look- and then I-"

"Forget it." The ice mage thumped him lightly on the head, cutting off the other's stuttering. "I don't really mind. It's not like a family photo is top secret or anything."

Natsu ducked his head in shame at being found out for his prying. Or at least that's what the ice mage thought. In truth, Natsu turned his face away because it was turning the color of Erza's hair. Gray had his jeans slung low on his hips, water beads still lingered on his pale skin. He looked like a model and any second someone from Sorcerer Magazine will pop out and take pictures of him for the next cover. Who wouldn't turn red from looking at him? Not like he'll ever let Gray know that.

Gray walked over to his dresser to look for a shirt, if he was actually going to wear one or not was a different matter altogether. "Hey Gray," The ice mage glanced over to the other male. "I figure this is your mom, and this one is obviously you. But who's the girl?"

"Hmm, that's Ultear."

"Huh?" Natsu looked back to the photo. "As in the Ultear that just determined my sentence?"

"The one and only."

Natsu glanced back to the picture. Now that he thought about it, that carefree young girl in the picture did look like a younger version of the terrifying General he just met a while ago. That would explain what she said too. "So who's the other boy?"

"You've got to be kidding me. I know you know who that is."

"Nope."

"Natsu, I only have the one brother."

"Well yeah, but this kid can't be Lyon."

"Why not?"

"He's smiling."

Gray gave a short chuckle. "Well, I can see your confusion."

Natsu grinned at the ice mage. "One last question, how come this was stuffed in a drawer?"

Gray shrugged. "No real reason. I used to always keep it close by but it started to get painful to look at some point. I just put it in there and haven't bothered to take it out." Natsu's heart clenched at the other's words. "Or maybe it's so perverts like you won't drool over an old picture of me."

"I was not drooling!" The fire mage snapped, earning a snicker from Gray. "How come it's burnt?"

"I thought that last question was your last question."

"Well now this one is."

"Our house burned down. That was the only thing that made it, though it didn't remain in perfect condition." Natsu stared back down at the picture. He always forgot how destructive fire could be. It had always been a source of warmth and comfort to him. It hurt to know something he found so amazing could distress someone he, dare he say it, dear. "Oi, Flame Head, are you going to keep staring at that old thing are you coming with me to get dinner?"

"Dammit Gray! I was being all sympathetic and everything and you just had to ruin the moment."

"Whatever, just come on already."

Natsu placed the items back in the secret drawer before closing it. All except the picture. He placed that on its rightful place onto of the nightstand, right where everyone that walked in could see it. Then he followed the waiting ice mage out the door and to the food that was eagerly calling his name.


	11. Bedtime Delight

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Sorry it's been awhile since the last update. Fanfiction was being uncooperative these pat couple of day and then Hiro Mashima just made life...depressing. So hopefully this can lighten the mood on a side note. (Now if only the manga could lighten up.) **

* * *

Gray watched disgusted as the rosy haired mage devoured enough food to feed a small army. Natsu sat in the chair across from him, shoving so much food in his mouth that the ice mage didn't know how it could all fit. Around the cafeteria people were staring at them in disbelief at the fact that just one of them could eat a feast fit for a king single handed. He knew he should have brought the food to his room. That way Natsu wouldn't have known how much food was in stock here. Or more importantly, that he could eat as much as he wanted without having to pay. The ice mage had a feeling if the Fairy Tail guild ever did that they would go bankrupt within a week.

"Oi, slow down. Just because you are an animal doesn't mean you have to act like one." Gray scolded.

Natsu wiped some food from the corner of his mouth and glowered at the other teen. "Bastard, it's not like you weren't allowed to eat for more than a day."

Gray just shrugged. "True, but at least I'm not making a fool of myself."

"You wanna go ice pop!"

"Are you really going to start something in front of a majority of those who would prefer to see you dead?"

Natsu opened his mouth to spit out an insult but closed it after seeing the look on the others face. He glanced around nervously and spotted a handful of people gazing at him like they just wanted to twist his throat in one angry jerk and forever be done with the fire mage.

"Told you."

Gray rose from his seat and stretched his arms behind his head. Natsu couldn't help admire how Gray's shirt lifted a few inches up from that movement, exposing a finely toned abdomen. Natsu swallowed an unfamiliar feeling that was forming in his throat and glanced away.

"You coming or what? It's getting late and I'm exhausted."

Natsu gave a small nod and stood up to follow the ice mage out of the mess hall. Gray didn't need as much help getting around anymore, he just suffered thru his limping by himself. Natsu walked behind the ice mage, still keeping his gaze down. The two of them were silent as they walked down the halls leading back to the ice mage's room. Natsu clenched and unclenched his fists, his nerves were beginning to feel as if someone had chewed through them. He slowly rose his gaze to glanced at the object of his turmoil.

Only to have his eyes stop half way and instead lock on a much rounder, tempting part of Gray.

Natsu gulped. Why, of all things for the ice mage possess, did he have to have such a nice ass? It was perfectly round and the dragon slayer had to restrain himself from slipping his hand into Gray's back pocket. Natsu felt a small trail of drool start to dribble down his chin. Thankfully they were alone in the hallway. This way no one would see the fire mage's unashamed learing. Natsu sent out a silent thank you to know one in particular at knowing his thoughts were his own and no one could read them. Especially considering he was having ideas that wouldn't be appropriate for young children. He could just imagine putting his hands on Gray's hips from behind and begin to-

"You're being unusually quiet."

Natsu glanced away before Gray could turn to look at him. A blush crept across his cheeks knowing he had almost been found out.

Gray looked over his shoulder to the fire mage following him. A frown spread across his face seeing Natsu looking slightly flushed. "Are you okay? You're not sick, are you?"

Natsu shook his head. "No, I'm…fine."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I can understand having a bit of color, but not talking?"

"I'm fine!" Natsu assured, his blush disappearing. "I was just thinking."

The ice mage snorted. Since when did Natsu think? "About what?"

About how many positions Gray could bend. "Life." Natsu lied.

"Thinking about life makes you blush?"

"I was not blushing!" Natsu snapped. "It's just hot in here."

"You're a fire mage, idiot. The word 'hot' doesn't mean anything to you."

"Sometimes it does." The pinkette muttered, a picture of Gray's shirtless body coming into mind. That could definitely be counted as 'hot.'

"You're an odd one Natsu Dragneel."

"I can live with that!" Natsu flashed the other a smile so bright the sun would be jealous.

Gray's stomach did a backflip and he swore butterflies were moving about inside with it. He tried his best to ignore them and focus solely on the beaming idiot. "Do weirdoes bathe at least? Because right now you smell like Happy left some old fish heads in your clothes."

…

Natsu leaned his head back and let the hot water beat down on his naked body. Steam rose up around him, causing his tense muscles to unwind. His damp hair clung to the sides of his face and drops of water trailed down from his wild pink hair and fell off to splash onto his shoulders. The liquid made its way between the cuffs on his wrist and his skin, not leaving a single surface untouched.

After a lifetime of just standing there and letting the water clean him on its own he finally twisted the silver handle to shut the flow of water off. He stepped out of shower and onto a rug covering the bathroom tiled floor. A pile of fresh clothes were sitting on the sink counter. Gray had been kind enough to hunt down some clothes that would fit him so he wouldn't have to redress in the still dirty ones. After getting dressed into the material he wrapped his precious white scarf firmly in place around his neck. He wiped his hand across the mirror, clearing up the fogged surface. He smiled at his reflection (not in a vain manner, of course). But he had to admit, he looked pretty damn good. Hell, how many tough guys out there could pull off the hair color of a sakura tree? He had to look amazing since he could and then some.

Natsu strutted out of the washroom and into the snug bedroom. Gray was lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling with no fascination evident in his navy blue eyes. "Oi," Natsu called, getting the others attention. Gray raised his head and glanced at him. "What's with the faraway look? You look like a damsel in distress waiting for her knight?"

The ice mage snorted. "Who are you calling a damsel? Fairy Princess."

"That's Mr. Fairy Princess to you." Natsu retorted. The dragon slayer plopped down on the bed next to the maker mage.

"Whatever, just go to sleep already."

"What? Is it past your bed time already?"

"Bastard, just go to bed. I'm tired as hell having to watch you all day."

"Think of it this way, this was just day one."

Gray let out a groan and rubbed his eyes. "I can't wait till I get rid of you."

"Aw, I know you don't mean that. If I'm gone who would make your life interesting?"

"If you're gone maybe I won't suffer a heart attack before I'm nineteen."

Natsu glared at him. "If anything terrible happens to you there is no way in hell you're pinning it on me. You brought this on yourself."

"How is this my fault?!"

"Easy, you said I could be used as a hosta-"

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me of my blunder. Now go to sleep."

"Why do you want me too so bad?"

"Because when you're sleeping you can't talk!"

"You wound me. But fine, if the queen commands it." Gray hit the back of his head for that. Natsu just smirked. That's when they realized the problem.

There were two of them.

But only one bed.

"Umm…Gray,"

"No," The ice mage kicked his leg out in an attempt to push Natsu off. "Sleep on the floor."

"But, Gray!" Natsu held onto the edge of the bed, refusing to fall off. "I'm tired too, and last night I slept tied up. Why can't I-"

"The floor, Natsu."

The fire mage glared at him. In one movement he pounced and landed on the other side of the ice mage, the side against the wall. Let's see Gray try to push him off now.

"Natsu, I will freeze you into a human popsicle if you don't move."

"Bastard, you sleep on the floor."

"Like hell I will! My front and back still hurts. You're not wounded, you sleep on the ground."

"Gray, if you don't let me sleep on the bed I will make this night a living hell for you."

"I am _not_ sleeping with you!"

"Moron, it's not like we're doing anything." Natsu snapped.

"I don't care! Get on the damn floor, Natsu!"

The dragon slayer glared at him. Before the ice mage could even comprehend what was happening Natsu as already moving. The fire mage pulled the covers out from under the other and sent Gray flying to the ground. Gray let out a grunt as Natsu made himself comfortable on _his bed._

"Bastard." Gray picked himself up and slid under the covers next to the dragon slayer. "Stay on your side."

…

Natsu silently cursed himself for getting into this catastrophe. It hadn't been awkward at first. Gray fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and the fire mage was left awake for a short time. Eventually, the dragon slayer himself had drifted off into dreamland to find the peaceful bliss of sleep for his self. He had woken up in the middle of the night to find a cool and comforting form pressed against him.

Gray had rolled over in his sleep and was now pressed snuggly against the dragon slayer. His dark hair tickled the bottom of Natsu's chin and the ice mage's mouth was slightly open, giving him an innocent appearance which the dragon slayer knew he was anything but.

Now Natsu was shoving himself as close to the wall as he could, trying to escape the embarrassment of Gray possibly waking up and accusing him of being a perverted pig, even if this whole thing was the ice mage's fault to begin with.

Those fluttery feeling Natsu had been containing kept coming up and demanding to be acknowledged by everyone. The memory of what went thru his mind when they were at the cabin returned. The dragon slayer clenched his fists, trying to keep his movements under control. He was afraid that if he didn't he might end up doing something really mortifying.

Still…it's not like he couldn't _admire _Gray_._

He had decided not to tell Gray about his feelings for the other; he hadn't decided not to enjoy the ice mage's company. Natsu brushed a strand of loose, dark hair behind Gray's ear, clearing his view so he could look directly at the molding mage's peaceful sleeping face. He rested his hand on Gray's alabaster cheek. Natsu's eyes widened as Gray let out a content sigh and relaxed into the warmth of his hand. Natsu bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing. Had the ice mage been awake during this he would have punched the dragon slayer's lights out by now. Oh, the humor. Just a few hours ago Gray wanted to enjoy the harmony of not having to deal with the dragon slayer for a few hours, only to have to dragon slayer bother him even in his sleep.

Ah, screw it.

When Gray woke up in the morning all flustered he'll just blame the ice mage for it all.

Natsu snaked his arms about the ice mage's waist and pulled the raven as close to him as he could. After waiting a moment to make sure Gray was still sleeping he wrapped his arms protectively around the ice mage's torso. He buried his head deep in Gray's messy black hair and inhaled the wintery scent of the other. The fire mage was pleasantly surprised when Gray let out a soft moan and snuggled closer to his warmth.

After just lying there in ecstasy for a time the dragon slayer closed his eyes and floated back into a deep sleep.


	12. Sherry's Love Counseling

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Happy would get more screen time if I did. So I know this was a late update, and the next one is probably going to be late to. Sorry, I won't have computer access for a majority of next week. But when I finally do again believe me I'll update. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Gray felt an unbelievable comforting and securing warmth engulfing him. It was cozier than the softest blanket and more inviting then a lively fireplace. This warmth surrounded every inch of him, not letting any of his usually cold body be a stranger to the welcoming feeling. It didn't leave him cold or alone. He felt like he could never be alone as long as this warm feeling encased him. He felt protected with this sensation encircling him. Nothing could hurt him, or tear him away from this. He wanted to know. What was it that made him feel beyond any feeling of love he had ever felt? He wanted so desperately to know the answer. If he opened his eyes to look would the warmth still be there? Or would it fade away and leave his heart cold and lonely once more? He had to know.

He slowly opened his eyes, looking for the cause of this irresistible impression. Instead of finding a blazing fire or even a flickering candle he found a soft, white fabric with a scale like pattern sewn in it. The end of the cloth was under his cheek, the smooth material pressing into his skin. The scarf was congenial, and promised the wearer of it was just as soothing. He glanced down and saw a well-toned chest and abdomen resting against his own bare chest. Gray felt himself smile. This person must be strong and possessive, it would explain why he knew he was safe with this feeling wrapping around his frame. His legs and the legs of the other were laced together, not letting any part of him be left out from the embrace.

He tilted his head up, twisting his neck so he could see the face of the one who held him so dear. Soft pink strands covered a tanned, sleeping face. Gray had an odd desire to run his hand though the sakura tresses. The other's mouth was slightly open, showing off sharp canines similar to a dragon's. The other's eyes were closed, but even without them being opened he knew they were as black as coal and held a spark to them. The ice mage closed his eyes and buried his head back into the scarf, enjoying the sensation of the other fully.

"What the hell?!"

Gray snapped his eyes open and took another look at who was holding him. Any sleepiness that lingered on him disappeared and realization dawned on him. He pushed himself as far away from the dragon slayer as he could. His back slid off of the bed and he plummeted to the floor. His legs that were still wrapped between Natsu's jerked away, pulling the dragon slayer forward and waking him up. Natsu opened his eyes in time to see Gray falling back and hitting his head on the corner of the night stand. The ice mage let out a yelp and held his throbbing head in his hands.

Natsu stared down at the other mage, dumbfounded. "You know, Gray, there's more than one way to get out of bed."

Gray glared ice daggers at the other. "Shut the hell up. Now why the hell were you molesting me?!"

"Excuse me? You were on my side of the bed. _You _came onto _me_." Natsu tried to hide his smirk. He couldn't blow it now.

Gray scoffed at him. He may roll over in his sleep, but he didn't crawl across the bed, especially if it was _Natsu_ on the other side. "I certainly did _not_."

Natsu just shrugged. "Say what you want, but it's the truth. You just couldn't keep your hands off of me."

The raven gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Whatever the hell he was previously thinking must have been his imagination mixed with his sleeping state. Had he been fully conscious he would never have thought of Natsu the way he just did.

"What's for breakfast?"

Natsu jumped up from the bed and stretched his arms over his head. He had that goofy grin of his across his face. Gray felt himself growing angry at the fire mage's attitude. Natsu was acting like nothing out of the ordinary just happened. Like two males embracing each other intimately in bed was perfectly natural. Of course maybe to some people it was, but not to him. That wasn't his thing.

"Violators don't get breakfast." Gray grunted, picking himself up from the floor.

Natsu rolled his eyes at the ice mage. "I didn't violate you. Now hurry up, I'm starving." The fire mage turned to the door and let his smirk finally play out. He should do this more often. Gray looked so adorable flustered. He even spotted a bit of a blush creeping up the other's cheeks before he turned away.

…

"Gray!"

Natsu looked up to who had just called over the ice mage. Lyon was sitting down at one of the cafeteria tables. A girl with long, dark pink hair was sitting beside him. The fire mage watched as a smile spread across Gray's face and he walked over to the two. Unsure what to do he simply followed.

Gray placed his tray down and slid in the seat across from his brother. Natsu did likewise, sitting in the seat across from the girl. The two ice mages started a conversation involving a lot of people and topics he couldn't follow, must have been about this whole agency deal. After losing interest in it he returned his attention to his breakfast. Who needed people when pancakes were present?

"So you must be the famous Natsu Dragneel." The girl across from him settled her deep blue eyes on him. "I've heard a great deal about you, and how you refused to admit any information concerning your father. That must be love."

"Huh?" The dragon slayer found his self choking on his flapjacks. Who said anything about love?!

"Withholding critical information is not love." Lyon scolded, joining in on the conversation. The girl gave a pout but didn't say anything.

"Natsu, this is Sherry. Sherry, you already know about Natsu." Gray clarified.

"Nice to meet you." Natsu muttered.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too, young fire mage. I can tell you're filled with the burning passion of love."

Natsu squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. First off, who talked like that? (Other than Laki back at the guild, but even she didn't make conversing this awkward.) Second of all, he wished she would stop saying 'love.' That concept has become a pain in the ass lately. "Same to you." He replied, somewhat embarrassed. Lyon and Gray returned to their previous natter, leaving the two pinkettes to themselves.

The fire mage took another bite of his breakfast and tried avoiding his gaze from Sherry. Too bad she was persistent. "So who is it that receives your embers of love?"

The flame mage took a deep breath, trying to keep the heat from reaching his face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sherry gave him a cherry smile. "You don't have to be so humble about it. Love is meant to be declared. Not to mention it is obvious that you are no stranger to the depths of compassion."

"I-I'm not in lov-"

"No need to deny it! Embrace your love and prove to the one who holds your heart that it is true!"

Natsu hung his head so his blush wouldn't be spotted. What was wrong with this girl?! Did she do anything other than get tangled in other's personal manners? She was like Lucy on steroids. Speaking of the blonde, he really needed her advice right about now. But if this girl was like a hyperactive Lucy, maybe she could help him. "Umm, Sherry, about love, should you always be bold with it?"

A spark of interest came to life in her dazzling blue eyes (not as dazzling as Gray's, but that goes without saying). "Advice? On love? I would be honored to help. I shall show you how to make your love blossom like a rose for the one you love."

"Thanks." The fire mage grumbled. Could she get any louder?

…

Gray talked with his older brother halfheartedly. He had become immune to Sherry's love babbling over the years, but he had never bothered to actually listen. That was until Natsu talked about it back with her. No one had done that before. He would never have dreamed the flame idiot would be the first. He unashamedly eavesdropped on their conversation. Part of him said he didn't care what 'love' Natsu had for someone. Another part of him was dying to find out. It was probably someone back at the guild. He couldn't put his finger on it but that vexed him beyond his limits. Must have been because Natsu could find happiness. Let's go with that.

"Interesting…so if they reject you, you should just continue your advances?"

Gray had to smother his laughter. Sherry gave the weirdest advice.

…

"So after they reject you they tend to fall in love with you? Fascinating." Natsu smiled to himself. He should have talked to someone days ago. Not to mention rethink his whole plan. If Sherry was right it meant his plan of not letting Gray know his feelings for him would pointless. It also gave him reason _to_ tell the ice mageabout his affections for the other. Now the only problem was how to court the raven. Should he try more of a 'sweep him of his feet' approach or a 'direct' method?

He glanced at the ice mage out of the corner of his eye. Gray never seemed to be one that would prefer to be 'wooed.' Heck, he didn't think the popsicle could be.

Sherry nodded vigorously. "Yes, courageous love is the best of all. Now go forth, and spread your love to the world."

"Okay, that's enough." Gray stood up, pulling the fire mage up along with him. "The last thing I need is another lovey dovey person to know."

Natsu happily let the ice mage pull him along. It was fine with him. He already got everything he needed to know.

…

"Sit."

Natsu did as he was told and flopped down on the bed. Gray shuffled through his nightstand and took out a blank sheet of paper and a pen.

"Write."

Natsu stared at the paper puzzled. "Write what?"

Gray rolled his eyes. "A letter. What else? Just a short one to the Fairy Tail guild to let them know you're not in danger. Don't say anything about where you are or what happened."

Natsu froze at that. Shit, he hadn't thought about that. He left his little buddy, Lucy, and a terrifying scarlet in the middle of a damn forest during a mission. "Umm, Gray…Erza's going to massacre us. We left them alone."

"Correction, she's going to massacre you. I don't need to go back. Don't worry about it too much, everyone returned to the guild the other day."

"How do you know?"

"I have my ways. Now write the damn letter."

Natsu tapped the pen against his head for a moment, thinking of what to say. After a time he finally began writing in his unmistakable messy handwriting.

_Dear Minna,_

_ Sorry this was kind of sudden but don't panic. Everything is okay. _

More or less.

_I should be back pretty soon. Until then I'm staying with a friend._

That was true in its own twisted way.

_Sincerely, Natsu_

"That was the worst message I've ever read." Gray commented, reading over the fire mage's shoulder.

"Aw, shut it." A thought occurred to him and his pen began moving once more.

_P.S. Happy, I left a few fish in the bottom drawer. They were going to be a surprise but I didn't get the chance to give them to you. They should still be good._

"The part directed to the cat was better than the part directed to actual human beings."

Natsu punched the other in the shoulder. "I said shut it. Now what do I do?"

Gray picked up the paper and folded it before placing it in his pocket. "You're going to sit here quietly and refrain from obnoxious behavior. I'm going to take this to intelligence for them to scan to make sure there isn't a secret message encoded. Though I'm pretty sure you're not clever enough to come up with one in that short amount of time."

Natsu brushed the insult off. "All that for a letter?"

"You'll be surprised what lengths they go thru when it comes to small things like this."

Natsu watched Gray's back as he left the room. He didn't really mind. It gave him enough alone time to think clearly…and plan. He was definitely coming up with a good strategy to get the ice mage to fall for him. He'll have Gray begging for him by the end of the week.


	13. Natsu's Old Childhood Gift

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Thsi chapter took way too long. First, I didn't have a computer to type it on. Then for whatever reason it just took me forever to type. Well, enjoy!**

* * *

"Day one." Natsu murmured in a low voice against Gray's ear, just low enough not to wake the still sleeping ice mage.

He ran a tan hand through Gray's raven hair. The maker mage had once again "crawled" over and was lying next to the fire mage, his head resting against Natsu's muscled chest. After bending down and placing a chaste kiss on top of Gray's messy locks he gently climbed over the dozing man. He wanted the other to fall for him, not think he was being subjected to unwanted fondling.

After tucking the blankets back around the ice mage (not that they were needed) he made his way to the bathroom to change into a clean set of clothes for the day.

* * *

Gray blinked his eyes open lazily, not particularly wanting to get up just yet. He glanced over the half empty bed and wondered why Natsu wasn't in bed with him (which was most likely the most bizarre thought he had thought). All that was there was the still warm spot where Natsu must have been earlier. How it pained him to admit it, but the heat Natsu's body gave off always managed to soothe him. Even if it was just the traces of heat where the other had been.

He rolled over until he was nestled on top of the remaining warmth. A peaceful sigh escaped his lips. His bed never seemed as comforting as it did when Natsu was in it. Maybe he should invite the fire mage to sleep with him more often (again, probably one of the weirdest thoughts he ever had).

The clicking of a door opening caused him to look up. Natsu was coming out of the bathroom, fully dressed for the day. His signature white scarf was casually thrown about his neck.

"Mornin' sunshine." Natsu grinned that goofy grin of his.

Gray groaned and pulled the covers over his head. Damn morning people.

The dragon slayer frowned. Is Gray trying to ignore him now? _Him?! _The great _Natsu?!_

"Oi, wake up already." The fire mage yanked on the sheets and pulled them off, exposing the ice mage underneath.

Gray rolled over onto his stomach and buried his head in a pillow. "Give me a few more minutes." He grumbled.

"Come _on_, I want to explore this dump."

"It's not a dump, now let me sleep."

"What's with you and sleeping? Is it me? Do I wear you out?"

Gray peeked out from the cushion. Natsu had a weird tone to his voice on the last question, and the smirk on the other's face went along with it. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

Natsu's smirk grew. "Oh, nothing. Just that you can't handle all _this_." The fire mage gestured to himself.

Gray narrowed his eyes at him. "Bastard. Since when did you become this conceited?"

"I'm not. I'm just stating the truth."

Before Gray knew what he was doing he was out of bed and standing in front of the other. He hadn't even been up for five minutes had he was already annoyed by the dragon slayer. Their faces were only a few inches apart, close enough that they could feel the cold and hot breath of each other mingle between them. The ice mage could see every feature of Natsu's mocking black eyes before him.

"What are you implying."

Natsu kept his laidback attitude in check. "You're just not capable enough. You just can't keep up with me-"

A fist contacted with his cheek and the dragon slayer staggered back a few steps before regaining his composure. He smiled inwardly to himself. This early in the morning and he had already accomplished the first part of his plan. Get under Gray's skin. Everything onward from here for the day was just an added bonus.

He clenched his fist and sent it flying back at the ice mage. He wasn't going to let the other off with hitting him just because he had a few little (essential) feelings for him. Gray's head turned to the side with the blow's force. His blue eyes hardened and he reeled back with another punch of his own.

Natsu ducked effortlessly and grabbed the other around the waist and slammed him down. This was why fighting always intrigued him. You could get so close to your opponent and learn all their techniques. Everything from which fist was their strongest to how they preferred to control their breathing.

Gray kept his smirk at bay. He could just use his magic, but what was the fun in that? Unknown to Natsu he had his own secret weapon. Maybe this could be seen as cheating from the dragon slayer's point of view, but to him it was simply using his resources. In one swift movement he broke past Natsu's guard and got in a hit directly to the other's collarbone. He could see the fire mage grit his teeth and topple down next to him.

It was Gray's turn to give the other a taunting smile. "Three out of five."

Natsu's smirk disappeared and was replaced with a look of confusion. "Huh?"

"Three out of a scale of five, that's your defense." Gray smiled to himself. He had a certain blue haired friend to thank for that information.

"You had me rated?!"

"Didn't need to. It was already done."

Natsu swung out only to miss the ice mage by an inch. "Okay, smartass. Then what's your defense?"

"Four out of five. Take that Ash Brain." Gray sent another punch towards the other.

Natsu took the full force of the blow and then began his counterattack. Gray felt strong hands grip his shoulders and he was flipped onto his back. "Tell me, Droopy Eyes," Natsu hissed. "Then what's my offense?"

Gray turned his head away, refusing to look the other in his eye. He mumbled something under his breath. Natsu's smirk returned. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

Gray's mouth formed a fine line. "Five of five."

"Oh? As in perfect? Now, what would yours be?" When Gray didn't answer Natsu leaned down until his mouth was right next to the ice mage's ear. "Well?"

Gray shivered. Natsu's hot breath tickled his skin. "Four out of five." He grumbled.

Natsu leaned back and smirked. "Sounds like you really can't handle me. Having a better defense doesn't always conquer offense."

The ice mage sent him a glare. "Vice versa. Don't get so damn cocky."

Natsu moved his hands to either side of the ice mage's head. Both his legs straddled the other without actually touching him. He was hovering only a few inches above the other, forming a sort of cage without actually touching him to pin him down. This way it felt like he wasn't forcing himself. "Being cocky can be good sometimes. It intimidates your opponent."

A scowl made its way across Gray's face. The ice mage sent his leg upwards and his knee caught itself in Natsu's abdomen. He could hear the fire mage's breath leave him in a rush and he took the opportunity to knock one of Natsu's legs out from under him. The dragon slayer collapsed to the side and quickly rolled on his back to recover. Gray grabbed both Natsu's wrists and pinned them above the other's head so he couldn't get another strike in.

"Intimidation doesn't always work, Flame Brain. I win."

_That was debatable. _Natsu let the view before him sink in. This time Gray was over him. But in a much different way. Instead of keeping himself up like Natsu had done he had settled his weight down in order to pin the dragon slayer. Now Gray was straddling him, resting on top of the other's stomach. He was leaning over him too. His pale chest was close enough Natsu could kiss it.

Sure, Gray was the winner here.

Natsu smiled. Maybe if Gray hadn't gotten so cocky in return he would have realized the dragon slayer hadn't out up any resistance to stop him.

…

"Sugoi!"

Natsu leaned his head back and behold the brilliant light blue sky above him. Slick green grass was under his feet, he wanted nothing more than to slip off his sandals and let the vegetation tickle his toes. The rushing of water filled his ears, courtesy of the small pond and fountain that was a few yards away at the bottom of the hill he was standing on.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a courtyard?!"

Gray let out a groan in annoyance. He had broken down and let the dragon slayer get his wish and explore. Natsu had been running around all morning, going to and fro. So far he had discovered all the rooms and buildings that were meant for recreation and other necessities. Including the dietary wing of the building (which he insisted they needed to come back to later), a large bathhouse, and a garage (which he claimed made him feel dizzy just thinking of transportation and left without another word).

At least he didn't have to worry too much about the fire mage now. The courtyard was completely closed off on all four sides. No chance of Natsu escaping.

Natsu bent down and sniffed some sort of flowering plant. It smelled sweet and not in a way that was overwhelming, which was saying something with his sensitive nose. He wasn't one for flowers, too girly. But these were lovely. The smell of them just pulled him in-

"ACHOO!"

Gray barked out a laugh as Natsu's sneeze stirred up the pollen in the garden. The sticky dust painted the dragon slayer's tan face a light orange. He looked like he just got attacked by an angry tulip.

Natsu glowered at him. "What the hell are you lookin' at? Ice Block."

"Big words coming from the human flowerpot."

Natsu stared daggers at him. He stalked over to the still laughing maker mage. He shoved the ice mage to the side and Gray lost his footing. The ice mage tumbled down, unable to stop from falling down the hill. Natsu snickered when he heard a splash and saw a soaked Gray trying to get out of a pond.

"Big ego coming from the human dishcloth."

Gray slumped out of the mere, wringing the water out of his dark hair. "Bastard. That was a cheap shot."

"I'm fine with that."

The ice mage peeled his shirt off, whether he did because it was wet or because of his stripping habit the fire mage couldn't say. It's hard to tell with exhibitionists.

"I should chain you back up in the dungeon for that."

Natsu stopped laughing and stared at him. "Yeah right. Like you would…" When Gray didn't say anything he mentally cursed the other. "…You…wouldn't…would you?"

"Hmm," Gray tapped his chin in thought. "Do I have access to the dungeon? I know I have clearance for the holding cells…"

Natsu grinned at the other's tone. "Damn popsicle, don't worry me like that."

"I'm sorry. Did you just ask something of _me? _I thought I was incapable."

"Nah. I just said that to piss you off. Now come on," Natsu reached down and pulled the ice mage the rest of the way up the hill. "I'm not done looking around yet."

…

"What's that?"

Natsu jerked his thumb in the direction of a set of heavy wooden doors. Gray resisted the urge to hit him. "Read the damn sign over the door."

"Umm…it says library."

"So why did you ask me what it was? Do you not know what that is?!"

Natsu punched him playfully in the shoulder. "I know what a library is. We have one in the guild."

"Yet you still asked…"

"Let's go in." Natsu latched onto Gray's arm and pulled him in the direction of the building. Gray let himself be pulled along. He couldn't explain it, but seeing Natsu get excited over silly things like this made him happy.

They pushed past the thick doors and into the near silent room beyond. A few people were scattered about, reading, looking for, and reshelving books. Natsu spun around, looking at the room in a full three sixty glance. It was larger than the guild back home. A set of stair cases led to a second story. He could just imagine Levy and Lucy here, the two of them would fall in love with place at first sight.

"It's huge…"

Gray laughed at Natsu's sudden attitude change. The dragon slayer felt wanderlust overcome him and he began to move around. It wasn't that reading fascinated him, it was just a nice change of scenery. No particular section of the library caught his eyes. He walked past a small children's section, followed by a much larger history section, and so on.

Natsu strolled down an aisle. At the very end he could make out a dimly lit corner of the library. The books were different in this section. They were older and had strange designs engraved in their covers.

"It's the magic section."

Natsu turned and looked at Gray who had been following him the whole time. He didn't know how the ice mage knew what he was thinking, but he cleared up his unasked question.

The fire mage went back to the section to get a closer look at the books. He traced his fingers over some of the old, leather bound spines. His eyes drifted up to a word printed between shelves, indicating what type of magic books were located there.

_ Ignis_

Natsu broke out into a smile. Best. Section. Ever. He took in all the books on the top shelf. He wished he had his magic now. With volumes this old there had to be one or two fire spells he could try out. It's the freakin' fire section, there had to be something.

"Hey, I recognize this book."

The dragon slayer grabbed a tomb off the shelf with a dragon stamped into the leather cover. He knew this book well.

"My dad gave me a copy of this book."

Gray leaned over the other's shoulder to look at it. "I remember when they brought this book in." Gray traced the outline of the book with his eyes. "They said something about this manuscript holding spells only master fire mages can use."

"Igneel said the same thing. He also told me to be careful with my copy because not that many existed in this world. I was really excited that he trusted me with it." The fire mage chuckled to himself at an old memory. "I went out once to go back to the guild. I was so worried I might lose it I left it at his house. As far as I know it's still on the shelf where I left it unless Igneel moved it somewhere safer." Natsu let himself reminisce in his memories.

_ Don't forget, Natsu, I'm giving this book to you because I believe you can master it. Show me that you are ready for it._

Gray couldn't help but smile. Despite knowing that Igneel has taken away so much from him and so many others…it was nice knowing the guy still could be humane. Especially to his own family.

Natsu placed his fingers under the book's cover and lifted it up. "I was just a little kid when he gave it to me. I put my name in my scribbly handwriting on the top corner of the first pa-"

Gray scanned the page to see what made Natsu stop so suddenly. His eyes drifted to the corner of the page. He flicked his blue eyes over to Natsu's face. He couldn't make out the dragon slayer's expression…but he guessed it was somewhere between surprised and blank.

"You know…if you want to get real technical, it looks like its spelled Noltzu than Natsu. Maybe it was some other kid's with bad handwriting."

"No…its Natsu…that's in my five year old hand."

Gray turned his head away. This wasn't a comfortable situation anymore. "Maybe Igneel _should_ have put it in a safer place." He muttered.

"Gray?"

Said person flinched at his name. "Yes?"

"Why is my book in your library?"

"That is a very good question. You see, it's, umm…there maybe a little bit of…breaking and entering on both sides of this feud…"

"I see…"

"In our defense, we've had that for quite some time. You should have realized it years ago."

"So you stole back when I was a kid? That's not very fair."

"_I_ didn't steal anything. There's nothing of yours that can be of value to me. But if it really bothers you," Gray reached out and took the volume from the other's hand. He grabbed his now dry shirt that he hadn't bothered to put back on and carefully wrapped it around the manuscript. Gingerly, he arranged the fabric so it looked more like a clump than a rectangle. He nudged Natsu in the direction of the door.

The fire mage didn't say anything as they made their exited. Gray didn't do anything until they were down the hallway and out of view of anyone who could see them.

"Here."

Gray unwrapped the book and placed it back in Natsu's hands. Natsu just stared dumfound at the other.

"Don't tell anyone I just did that, and don't think I'm going to make this into a habit for you. Got it?"


	14. Gray's Confusion

**I do not own Fairy Tail. So the other day I realized there had already been thirteen chapters and not a lot of Gray and Natsu moments... Probably should fix that. I hope this makes up for it. Enjoy! **

* * *

"End of day five…" Natsu muttered, casually flipping through the pages of his book. He silently cursed himself, it was almost the end of the week already and Gray had yet to show clear interest in him. He was sure after the ice mage did that favor for him at the library it would be easy. That was the first time he showed he really did care about the dragon slayer. Natsu had even considered it something couples would have done. But that was the last obvious thing Gray had done to show his feelings towards him.

"Damn it Ice Block…why are you so difficult?"

The dragon slayer rolled over on the bed and slung his arm over his eyes to shield them of the bright fluorescent lights. If Gray didn't demonstrate similar feelings back soon he'll go insane. They two freakin' _slept together_! How could the ice mage not say anything?! Worst of all, he was beginning to run out of ideas. He had figured out ways to have the ice mage blush that cute little blush of his and smile that cheery smile. But he could only pull it off once. Then the ice mage would figure out his tricks.

"That glacier is going to put me in the madhouse."

A small smirk ran across his face.

"I guess that's why I put up with you."

* * *

Gray let the icy cold water finish trickling down his body. After wringing his raven hair out he grabbed a fresh towel and attempted the dry off. After about minute of not successfully getting all the water off he let his magic flow. Shaking icicles from the tips of his hair and brushing frost off his skin was much easier in his opinion.

He pulled on a fresh pair of boxers and pants over his legs. He didn't bother with his shirt. He had found sleeping with Natsu he didn't really need one. Not that he wore it usually. Sharing the bed wasn't as awful as he thought it would be. He had even begun to enjoy curling up against Natsu every night (though he had no idea how he always did). The only downside was Natsu was a human furnace.

Thinking of the dragon slayer brought a smile to his lips. He enjoyed having the fire mage in his company, it gave him someone to talk to. This past week he had started to see a whole new side of the flame mage. His rambunctious and idiotic side was still there. But he had also begun to show a different side of him that was much more…sweet.

A blush began to creep across his face. That had been happening a lot lately. Not to mention that funny feeling in his stomach was constantly bugging him. Maybe Natsu's weirdness was contagious. Let's blame it on that.

Gray shook his head to clear it before placing his hand on the doorknob. It was beyond late already. Now he just needed to wrestle the flame head to bed and he was done for the day.

Natsu was sprawled across the bed when he entered the room. The dragon slayer peaked out from under his arm to glance at him. Gray smiled at him, expecting the other to throw an insult at him as their routine had become. It was almost reassuring that the fire mage was unchanging in some ways.

Natsu blinked at him dully before letting out a long sigh and placing his arm back over his eyes. Gray's smile turned into a frown. That wasn't like the fire mage at all. He shrugged it off and went over to his door to make sure it was locked for the night. Sliding the deadbolt in place he went back around and shot another glance at Natsu. The fire mage was still on his bed, in the exact same pose.

"Oi, you ready for bed yet?"

Natsu muttered a few incomprehensible words before sliding off the mattress. "Just give me a moment." He restated, clearer this time. He stumbled to the bathroom with his head down and eyes closed. Gray raised an eyebrow when he missed the entrance and hit the wall next to the door instead.

"You okay, flame brain?"

Natsu didn't hear him, his mind was t busy thinking. What the hell was he supposed to do? He was up with his back against the wall and who knew how much time he had left? He overheard someone say the other day Igneel was working out a deal for him already. It was only a matter of time before he got kicked out of here. What then? Was Gray never going to know?

"Umm, Natsu." Gray watched the other worriedly. Natsu was standing with his head banging against the wall, not saying anything. "Are you sure you don't need help?" Natsu continued ramming his head against the drywall. Gray swore under his breath. What was going on? "NATSU!"

"Huh?" The dragon slayer's head snapped up at being called from his musings. He turned sharply to look at Gray who had a concerned look on his face. His foot twisted on something on the ground when he moved and the next thing he knew he was falling. Gray reached his arms out in an attempt to catch him. The dragon slayer's weight slammed into him and he was unable to hold it so suddenly. The raven's legs gave out from under him and he fell backwards.

Natsu placed his tanned hand behind the other's head before they fell to the ground, trying to cushion the fall. Gray head hit the palm then snapped back forward from the impact. Natsu's eyes widened as Gray's head came forward and collided with his.

Gray let out a soft moan at the pain building along his backside. Only his head wasn't suffering as much as the rest of him thanks to Natsu. He blinked his eyes open, not realizing he had closed them during the fall. His anil eyes looked at the other mage in shock.

Natsu was looking at the other with the same expression. It was an accident, he swore it was. It's not like he meant to do this.

He didn't mean to lock their lips together.

Gray laid still, unable to speak. He couldn't pull away, his head was trapped against the floor. His limbs had stopped working, he couldn't squirm out of this. He waited for Natsu to pull away and end this. Maybe even stammer out a stream of apologies. Or maybe they both could just forget this happened. Anything but this. So when Natsu closed his eyes and pressed their lips together harder he wasn't expecting it.

Natsu twisted his hand in Gray's dark hair and let his other hand grip the other's back. He pressed his body's against Gray's until he could feel the ice mage's beating heart against his. Gray's lips were soft under his own. Tempting. He tilted his head to get closer to the other's mouth. The raven's cold skin felt like heaven against his burning own. The fire mage was sure if he opened his lids lust could be seen in his black orbs.

How convenient. He had been thinking of ways to get Gray's attention. Now he knew the other knew what he felt. Even if this wasn't fair, even if Gray had no choice, he let himself get lost in the bliss the other was giving him.

Gray continued staring wide eyed at the pinkette. His mind had gone long numb. All he was sure of was that Natsu was kissing him. The dragon slayers held him in the most loving embrace he had ever felt. It was comforting and protective all at the same time. A look of happiness was settled on the dragon slayer's face.

A feeling of disgust bubbled in the pit of his stomach. This had to be some sort of sick dream or joke. This was Natsu, for crying out loud. _Natsu_. The guy who he was supposed to despise every part of. He was a damn _guy_. This was not meant to happen for so many reasons. Not to mention the flame idiot was enjoying this. Shouldn't he have gotten off him now instead of continuing to kiss him! This was wrong for so many reasons.

Natsu felt him smile against Gray's lips and placed his mouth fully over the other's, capturing Gray's lips with his own. He felt the need for more. He wanted more. Greed was steaming inside him at this point.

Gray tried to recover from the jolt. He tried to force his mind to process what the hell he was supposed to do. He had to get out of this. There was no argument to that. By now it felt like the kiss had gone on for an eternity. Yet the other wasn't showing any signs of stopping.

Gray let out a gagging sound when Natsu slid his tongue over his bottom lip, asking for entrance.

The ice mage recovered his self and shoved the fire mage off of him. Natsu hit the ground with a look of alarm on his face at the sudden movement. The fire mage sat up in time to see the ice mage scramble to his feet and fumbled with the deadbolt before bolting out the door.

Natsu blinked as the last bit of Gray disappeared out the door and down the hallway. The dragon slayer sat back on his hunches , wondering what the hell he did wrong.

* * *

Gray stumbled down the hallway, half running half falling every few steps. His mind was going a million miles per hour and his chest heaved with every pant. He tried to shake the thought of what just happened out of his head. Natsu's face kept popping into his mind eye. The dragon slayer's touch lingered on his skin. His lips were still burning hot from the contact.

The ice mage turned down into another hallway, trying to escape what just occurred. An image of Natsu flashed back into his mind. He burst through a set of double doors at the end of the hall. The memory of Natsu holding him entered his mind. He staggered into the fresh, cold night air and the wind whipped around him. A picture of Natsu kissing him came to mind. He barely registered that he had entered courtyard.

He tumbled over to one of the cherry trees and leaned against it for support. His stomach was turning and he felt bile rise in the back of his throat. His back slid down against the rough bark until he was sitting on the damp grass. He rested his head back and tried to control his ragged breathing. A cold sweat was beading on his forehead and dripping down his back.

Eventually his breath caught up and he could think again. He wiped the sweat from his brow and tried to concentrate.

What was Natsu thinking?

He rubbed his tired eyes and hung his head. That flame _idiot_. If someone, _anyone, _saw that they would both be in trouble.

"I'm going to kill you." Gray muttered.

It was wrong. He couldn't get that thought out of his head. Him and Natsu…that didn't compute. Why would the flame mage do that anyway? Was he just trying to seduce him for personal gain? Or was the idiot just pretending to be in the dark this whole time to get him to trust the other, and then try in his own sick and twisted way to extract information from him. Was that all he was to him? Just someone that he could use and then get rid of?

His heart clenched at the thought. Natsu couldn't be as cruel as so many others he had met in his life. He had trusted him, dammit. He had believed Natsu was as kind and warm as he appeared. He thought he was a friend! But in the end he was just plotting. Or was this all his wild imagination running loose? Maybe Natsu was caring and he was just on a verge of a panic attack.

The ice mage ran a hand through his raven hair and gripped his head in frustration. He wished he could go back to when he just hated the fire mage for no real reason, back when he was just someone he was supposed to investigate. But he screwed up. He, who had pride in himself for being one of the best agents out there, screwed up. He broke his number one rule. Don't get involved. Not with the target, not with the subject, not with anyone.

This just proves it all blows up in your face.

A warm droplet of water landed on his chest. Gray looked up, expecting to see the stars covered in storm clouds. Instead he saw a clear night sky. Another droplet landed on him and that's when he realized he'd been crying. He dabbed his eyes in embarrassment. How could he get so emotional over such a silly thing? He should have seen this coming. The fire mage would have shown his true colors eventually.

Really, he was the fool here. He should have seen himself being used so easily. It was all for Natsu's own reward. What happened in his room a few minutes ago was a mistake, probably one of the biggest he ever made, and he didn't even have the brains to stop it when it first happened. It was messed up and wrong.

So why did it feel so right?


	15. Questions

**I do not own Fairy Tail, and I have to say that, because it's not obvious enough that I don't. Enjoy the chapter, everyone! **

* * *

"So the offer Igneel gave us was turned down?" Lyon ran a hand through his spiky hair. His sister nodded, confirming the news. He couldn't believe it. The old snake was practically begging at their feet at this point. How much more was he willing to give up before he realized his son wasn't worth it? If they turned down the proposition that great they were either going to get a better offer or absolutely nothing. No in-between.

Ultear brushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear. She had been one of the ones to decide not to take the deal. It was risky, but it had to be done. "He's despicable…and I can't honestly say he'll counter our decision." She he turned her head, not wanting to see the look of distaste on her brother's face. Her eyes settled out the second story window, a much more pleasant sight.

Lyon groaned. This situation was turning beyond troublesome. He loathed the reptile that called himself a man. He was the most disgusting creature to slither on this earth. A hostage deal was one thing, but he wanted the man to suffer on his end. If this didn't work out he'll just get rid of the nuisance's son and be done with this all.

"How can we be sure this is going to work? What in the past has given us proof to believe Igneel is capable of showing concern for his family? The man has no set of family values."

"Hmm," Ultear half listened to her brother.

"If he truly was distressed he would have done something by now. Threaten to burn a village or what not. Mayhap charge here his self. That's what any loving family member would do. Not leave a loved one alone."

"Is that so…"

"Of course it is." Lyon derided. "Any sensible person would take action, despite the consequences. They don't simply give them the cold shoulder."

"Like Gray?"

Lyon narrowed his hard eyes at the female. Ultear didn't take notice. She continued watching the patch of green below. "What are you taking about?" Ultear raised a pale hand and pointed out the window. Lyon walked over and gazed out the crystal pane. His eyes rested on what the other pointed to. A growl came from the back of his throat. "That moron…what is he doing?"

The silverette fumbled with the hook keeping the glass in place and swung the window wide open. Ultear watched in mild curiosity as an ice slide formed on the window ledge leading down to the courtyard below. Lyon climbed onto the sill and slid down.

He strode over to the younger male and kneeled down in the fresh morning dew beside him. Gray was more or less curled up in a ball and lying on his side. He lifted the raven's head up and a faint groan came from the younger. He examined his younger brother; searching for bumps or bruises on the off chance he was somehow attacked. Not finding any he was able to calm down. Dirt was smeared across Gray's face and he looked utterly exhausted. Dark circles were visible under his eyes. Lyon mulled over the possibility if the other slept here all night. He gently shook Gray's shoulder to wake him up. Bleary eyes blinked open and settled on him.

"Lyon? What are you doing here?"

"I should be the one asking you that. Why the hell did you sleep outside?"

"I didn't…" Gray glanced around and saw vegetation around him. A feeling of depression crashed over him like a wave at high tide. That's right; he never went back last night. "It's nothing." He finished.

Lyon raised a thin eyebrow but didn't press the matter. Alternatively he half turned and pulled Gray's arms around his neck. He grabbed both Gray's legs and placed them on his hips before standing. A blush spread across Gray's pale complexion like warm butter. "Lyon…this is embarrassing. Put me down."

"Shut it. You're too damn fatigued to make it back to your room alone."

The younger ice mage buried his face in the other's back, trying not to be seen. "I'm too old for a piggyback ride…now put me down. People can see us."

Lyon snorted. "That's what you're worried about? Hardly anyone's up yet. I think I saw Ultear laughing at us, but that's it." The younger of the two didn't reply. He settled himself comfortably against the older's back. After a few minutes of complete silence Lyon was left wondering if he had fallen asleep again. Lyon smiled to himself. "Just like the old times…"

True to his word practically not a soul was about yet. He made sure to avoid hallways he heard murmurs coming from, for Gray's sake. He couldn't care less, but the raven would become angry at him if anyone saw his soft side.

A row of doors were coming up on his side. He shuffled over to one of them and searched through his pockets for his key card. Gray squirmed on his back, waking up. He pieced together what the other was doing and slid off his back. "I'm fine, Lyon. I don't need to go back to bed."

Lyon set his cold eyes and the other. "You've got to be kidding. A gust of wind could knock you out."

Gray rubbed some of the sleep out of his eyes. "I said I'm fine. If anything I'm not crawling into your bed. I'm not four."

"Funny…I distinctly remember you doing that when you were five."

The raven punched him in the shoulder. "See ya…" He muttered before staggering to his own bedroom. Lyon silently watched him until he disappeared down the hallway. His brother was an odd one.

Gray thought he was going to collapse halfway back. Truthfully he would prefer to do something other than return to his courters. For example…jumping into an active volcano. But he had to deal with the flame idiot sooner or later. He rather get it done now. He mentally smacked himself. Natsu. Dammit, he left the moron alone all night. He probably escaped his cage and ran amuck all night.

* * *

Natsu sat with his back against the wall of Gray's room. He had drifted off a few times during the night but thoughts of the ice mage pulled him back awake. He didn't even have the guts to chase after him last night. Why did he pull such a stupid stunt? The ice mage was probably going to throw him in a prison cell now. Not that he didn't deserve it. He really was useless lately. First he gets taken hostage, and then his magic is cutoff, now he's sitting here because he's the biggest piece of crap to walk the earth. He banged his head against the wall.

Idiot.

_ Ba_ng.

Idiot.

_Bang._

Idiot_._

Didn't this always work out in books and shitty teen magazines? Why is it when he applied it to real life it all blew up in his face?

Idiot.

_Ba_ng.

"You're going to damage my walls."

Natsu snapped his head to the side. Gray was standing in the doorway, looking like a zombie. His breath caught in his throat as the ice mage entered the room, closing the door behind him. The raven was…expressionless. He didn't look furious, but he didn't look happy either.

"Gray, I-"

The ice mage held up a hand, cutting him off. "I don't want to hear it. I don't give a crap what you're up to. So let's pretend nothing happened and leave it at that."

Natsu felt his heart twist. He had expected the maker mage to scream at him, not talk, or even let a fist fly. But pretending? That didn't register. "Look…I know it was a little unorthodox but I real-"

"I said I didn't want to hear it." Gray sent him a glare. Natsu swallowed. Gray's eyes weren't that friendly blue anymore. They were hard and threatening, like ice.

Natsu gritted his teeth in frustration. This is what he got for one blissful minute. "Dammit Gray, just let me explain!"

"You've done enough!"

"You owe me!"

Gray sneered at him. "After all that and you think I'm in debt to _you._ Get your head out of your ass you little piece of shit."

"You said you were a man of your word. You owe me a favor and I'm cashing it in now. So shut up for one damn minute Ice Block!"

"I'm not listening to-"

"I like you dammit." Natsu yelled over him.

"STOP TALKING!"

"You're just too self-absorbed to realize that!"

"I swear I will shove an icicle down your throat!"

"Stop being a coward and listen to me!"

Gray ground his teeth together. He'll put up with Ice Block, bastard, moron…but not coward. He was above that foul word.

The two of them stared without saying anything. Natsu didn't know what to make of it. One moment Gray was about to rip his head off, now he just stood there.

"Look…I know it's a lot to take in. But…I'm being honest here. Is it me? Is it because I'm a guy that you're turned off? Or is it because you still think I'm another inhumane mage willing to terrorize everyone he meets. Either way I just wanted you to realize it…"

"You really are an idiot…"

"Huh?" Natsu blinked at him. Gray wasn't looking at him anymore. He had turned his head away. His tone had changed too. It wasn't angry. It was soft, almost lonely.

"You think I'm self-absorbed? Look in the mirror Flame Brain. You're not the only one who knows what love is…You just don't understand."

"Understand what? Gray," Natsu hesitantly placed a hand on the raven's shoulder, not sure if he was allowed to yet. When Gray pulled away he took it as an invitation to carry on. "I'll admit it, I don't understand a lot. I don't understand why you seem so conflicted, and I don't understand why I can't help you. But I do know one thing. I like you Gray. I really do."

Gray refused to look the other in the eye. He bit his lip to keep from lashing out. His stomach was doing an acrobatic routine and his chest clenched which made him angrier. He tried to ignore it. He really did. Bu dammit he knew that feeling even if he didn't want to believe it.

Now without his permission his mind was working and not in the way it should.

"Natsu…it's not worth it."

The dragon slayer clenched his fists. "What's not worth it? Me or you?"

"Us." Natsu gawked at him. He'd been expecting the first option. Not neither. "I don't know why you did it…if it's part of some long and complicated scheme or you're just insane enough to actually like me. But it doesn't matter."

Gray took in a deep breath before continuing. "Have you ever gone through something for so long you stop caring? You just give up and let everyone around you deal with their own problems and stay out of it. It's a terrible feeling to have, not caring. But it's universal."

Natsu stared him in silence, unsure what to make of that.

"It's not worth getting hurt over. Let's just leave it at that."

Natsu unclenched his fists. He couldn't-wouldn't accept that. He hadn't come this far to give up so easily. He's never done that in his life.

"You're wrong." The fire mage watched the other. Gray didn't reply, but he turned his head just a bit. Not enough to see his face, but enough to know he was listening. "There's an old saying that you never know what happiness is unless you've felt pain. That's the same for every emotion. If getting hurt is what it takes to prove to you that I care, then so be it."

The two of them were silent. Gray stood with his back turned. Natsu's hand felt cozy on his shoulder, like it belonged there. Gray mentally cursed his stupidity. Why, out of all the people to fall in love with, did it have to be the fire freak?

"Well?" Natsu asked. "What do you think? Want to give me a chance?"

The fire mage held his breath. His heartbeat hammered in his ears, threatening to burst his eardrums. He didn't dare move. Afraid if he did this moment would shatter.

"I think…"

Natsu sucked in a breath. He didn't want to hear the end and did at the same time.

"It's a damn good thing these walls are soundproof."

The dragon slayer blinked. "Baka, don't change the subject." He smacked the back of Gray's head playfully. The ice mage chuckled, lightening the mood. Natsu grinned at him; at least the maker mage wasn't so unbelievably tense. "What's your real answer?"

Gray finally turned around to look at him. "What I really think…" Gray drawled, trying to get a rise from the other with his slowness. "That certain people out there are worth it." Natsu leaned closer to him, mentally willing him to continue. "There are some people who aren't. The dragon slayer's face fell. He couldn't change Gray's mind after all. "But you aren't one of those people."

Natsu broke out into a grin. He grabbed Gray tighter and pulled him closer. "Don't scare me like that."

Gray nodded into his chest. He knew he shouldn't have said anything. He should have just thrown the fire mage out and never think about him again. He shouldn't have let Natsu's feelings affect him. But his gut was saying otherwise.

They say always trust your instincts.


	16. Sorrow and Regrets

**I do not own Fairy Tail. I finally had time to write again! Now I just need to catch up on all my stories. At least this one is caught up. Enjoy the chapter. **

* * *

Natsu groaned in annoyance at no one precise. Not that anyone was around to hear it. Gray had left him what felt like hours ago to attend a meeting. The dragon slayer didn't exactly have a thing for sitting down and listening to authority drone on and on, so he didn't accompany the ice mage. That and Gray wouldn't let him, something about it not being for his ears.

Then the damn ice block locked him in the room. So the dragon slayer couldn't even leave to go somewhere else. Something about not being allowed to leave unless he was under watch. Which was utter bullshit in the fire mage's opinion. Like he was a threat with the dumb magic restraints around his wrists. What were they worried about? That he'll burn the whole agency into a crisp? They really should put more confidence in their inventions.

Natsu had to suppress his cheer of glee when the doorknob turned. His famous smile found its home when he spotted the raven standing in the doorway. _Finally, _freedom from his ennui.

"Hiya!" Natsu beamed as soon as the door closed behind the raven.

In place of returning a greeting Gray grabbed the hem of his shirt. Natsu watched with predator eyes as Gray pulled the fabric over his head and tossed it unceremoniously to the side. The dragon slayer licked his lips in covetousness. He was beginning to admire that bad habit of Gray's.

"You seem to be in an awfully good mood." The ice mage commented.

"Course I do." Natsu grinned. "You just came back."

Gray rolled his eyes. "A little cheesy there."

Natsu hooked an arm around the raven's waist. The stripped willingly let his self be hauled over to the dragon slayer. Natsu sat the ice mage down on his lap, locking his tanned arms around the shirtless torso. Gray leaned his back against the firm chest and closed his eyes. The fire mage trailed down feathery kisses along the pale neck.

"Natsu…don't."

"Hmm," The dragon slayer traced a finger across Gray's lips, causing the other to shiver. "Do you really want me to stop?"

When Gray didn't answer he took it as an invitation to continue. He placed his lips on the ice mage's jawline, before moving up and covering the other's mouth. A moment later and Gray was kissing him back. The raven twisted on his lap and wrapped his arms around the fire mage's neck, one hand running through the pink hair, grasping the locks. Natsu held back on showing his surprise when Gray opened his mouth up for him. In the past week he raven had only done that a handful of times.

Natsu gripped the ice mage tighter, deepening the kiss. He memorized the taste of the ice mage on his tongue. The way Gray let their tongues mingle instead of pushing him away like he would have a few days ago. Their breath mixed together, Natsu's hot while Gray's was cold. The dragon slayer felt the ice mage beginning to pant against him, indicating the building need of air. Natsu outlined the other's mouth one last time before aversely pulling away.

Gray took in lungs full of air, while Natsu calmly watched him. He felt his face heat up when Natsu's warm lips went to his throat. "Natsu… stop it already." The dragon slayer ignored him, continuing in his indulgence. The ice mage grabbed both of Natsu's shoulders and pushed him away. The dragon slayer gazed at the raven, slightly hurt by the other's actions. Dark bangs covered Gray's blue eyes, not letting him make out the ice mage's expression.

"I said stop it."

Natsu didn't say anything, not knowing how to solace the raven. He pulled the ice mage back to his embrace. Gray stiffened on contact but slowly eased up and snuggled closer. Natsu ran a hand through the thick black hair, one of the most comforting actions in existence.

"You said we were safe in your room, right? What are you worried about."

"You know what."

Natsu looked away guiltily. He didn't want to go over this again. He hated it, though. After being together for almost all day everyday they had managed to get pretty close already. But the ice mage was walking on eggshells here. He didn't want to blow everything for him.

Gray got off the other's lap, reaching a hand out to help the dragon slayer up. Natsu looked at it, deadpan. Numbly, he grasped the waiting hand and got up next. The ice mage gave him a small smile, letting him know he wasn't mad.

Natsu overlooked it. He ducked his head down next to Gray's ear. "I'm sorry." He muttered. "Please forgive me."

Gray shook his head. "Don't be so melodramatic."

A grin spread across Natsu's face. "So I'm forgiven?"

"For nothing? Sure."

The dragon slayer latched his hand onto Gray's wrist. "Then let's go somewhere. I'm sick and tired of staring at your walls all day."

The maker mage frowned and dug his heels into the carpet. "Hold it."

Natsu lost his smile and turned to the resisting mage. "What?!"

Gray felt blameworthy at seeing the look on the fire mage's face. Natsu was beyond irked, not that he cared about that. But he felt bad for leaving the dragon slayer alone all day. "I only came to check up on you. I have to be at another conference in a few minutes."

The dragon slayer resisted the urge to groan again. "Another one?"

Gray nodded. "Yes another one. Unlike some _people_," he stabbed a finger in Natsu's chest, "I have to work."

"Are you deliberately trying to avoid me?!"

"Course not," Gray chuckled. "It just works out for me."

"_Gray!"_

"I'm kidding!" The ice mage held his palms up innocently.

Natsu twined his arms around the ice mage's waist. "Do I at least get a kiss before you go?"

"You just got one."

"I mean an extra one." Natsu almost pleaded. He gave Gray a begging look, trying his best to look desperate. Gray bit his lip, contemplating his decision. Natsu did look awfully tempting…

Natsu grinned when the ice mage stepped closer to him, placing his hands on his chest. Gray tilted his head up towards him. Natsu closed his eyes and leaned down.

"Nah, I change my mind."

Natsu missed the other's lips as Gray turned away. The ice mage laughed at the stunned dragon slayer as he walked out the door. The fire mage watched him go, a low growl coming from his throat.

"Damn tease."

* * *

Gray denied the impulse to smash his head against a brick wall. He may joke about Natsu's intelligence, but he was the real king of idiots. He'd been beyond jumpy since he and Natsu had become, for a lack of a better word, a couple. It's obvious too. People were starting to notice how they acted different now, despite their bad acting attempts to cover it up.

Not to mention Natsu just didn't seem to _get it._ He acted like he understood, and tried to help in keeping the secret. Yet he still didn't understand what would happen if they would found out. Either he didn't comprehend the gravity of the situation or he wasn't bothered by it. _'Come to Fairy Tail if they don't like it.'_ That had been his pointless suggestion. It wasn't that simple. Going to that guild wouldn't solve anything.

The thought of someone finding out he and Natsu were together…he might as well tie the noose himself. Forget being looked down at, he would be considered a turncoat. He'll be thrown in prison and left there for all eternity. All his friends would pretend they never knew him, he was just a defector. Not to mention Ultear and Lyon will-

A lump formed in his throat at the thought of the two. He could still recall the look of hatred on his brother's face when they found out their mom had been murdered. The way Ultear glowered at finding out who did it. The way they both joined this whole madhouse of an agency in order to make things right. He had only been a small child at the time, but the anger his older siblings had scared him at the time. Now that he was older he realized he wasn't scared, he was terrified. If they find out he was with the son of the man who ruined their lives…

They disown him. He'll lose whatever family he had left. They'll never call him 'brother' again. It'll always be 'traitor' or 'renegade' to the family. That is if they even talked about him at all. They slowly forget all the warm memories they had growing up together. He'll be the son or Ur who betrayed her. The one who loves the enemy instead of his own family.

The worst part was he couldn't even blame them for thinking that if word ever got out. He would think the same had the situation been with one of his siblings. There would be no room in their hearts for forgiveness. Maybe if he stopped now and they still found out they talk to him again in eighty years. But that wouldn't happen. He was in too deep the moment he said yes to the flame idiot.

He put his whole life on the line for someone he'd only known for several weeks. Someone he was never supposed to trust had his whole future in his pyromaniac hands. The fire mage could either keep shut or take everything away from him. Even if no one discovered their little secret nothing would come out of it. They would never be able to tell anyone if they did stay together, and wouldn't be able to pretend nothing happened in between them if they didn't.

"I might as well flip a coin." Gray sighed, banging his head against a nearby wall. "Heads I jump in chummed waters. Tails I find a nice cliff to walk off of with spikes at the bottom."

"What was that? Sergeant Gray?"

The ice mage turned to who had spoken fast enough he almost lost his footing in the process. His eyes locked on a form much shorter than himself. Questioning eyes with a color intense enough to match the owner's name watched him.

He let out a breath, trying to regain his composure. "Nothing…Coco."

The small girl cocked her head to the side, unconvinced. There was that lump again. Gray felt shame well up inside him. Here was one of the few in this world who looked up to him. He was going to lose that too.

"Is that so…" She murmured. Gray offered one of his best smiles in hopes to convince her. The Private stared at him for a moment before grinning back. "It's good to see you again, Sergeant. You've been so busy lately with the prisoner I haven't gotten to see you that much."

"Say, Coco, are you busy right now?"

"No, sir."

"Why don't you walk with me. Tell me everything that's happened since I've last saw you. Take my mind off things."

Gray was glad when the younger did so. Though he felt she might only be doing it because he was a superior to her who asked a favor. He'll pretend that wasn't the reason. He really did mean he wanted her to take his mind of things. Anymore thinking about his problematic situation he'll go insane.

"Um, well…" Coco stammered, unsure where to begin. "I was promoted to head runner. I'm in charge of the messaging department now."

Gray let out a low whistle. "Impressive. Next thing you know you'll be head director of field agents."

Coco blushed at the compliment. "Thank you Sergeant."

"Just Gray. I'm not feeling like much of a sergeant right now." The ice mage let out a dry chuckle.

"Yes Serge- Gray." Coco corrected. The raven grinned at her. That was the first time she didn't use his title.

They walked in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's company. He really had to admire the young Private. She was always in a good mood and stuck up for her comrades. He wished he was as headstrong as her right now.

"Hey Coco," the brunette look over at him. "If it's not too much of a personal question, mind telling me how you got involved? With the agency I mean." When she didn't answer right away he mentally smacked himself. He knew he shouldn't have asked. Half the people here didn't talk about how they got here for a reason. "You don't have to answer if you don't want."

"No, it's fine." She drawled. "I was just thinking. It's nothing tragic." She started. "I didn't have a family, I'm not sure what happened to them, I just knew I was an orphan." Gray watched her silently, waiting for her to continue. "I didn't have anywhere to go, so for a while a stumbled on alone. That's when I met a friend by chance. Well, a cat friend anyway. His name was Pantherlily, but he let me call him Lily because we became close friends when we met. He said he believed I could make something of myself. Then I accidently came upon this place and decided to join to do just that. We lost contact though, but I hope he still remembers me."

"Lily?" Gray raised an eyebrow. Wasn't there a cat back at the Fairy Tail guild that…

"Coco, if you ever have time off from work I think I have a place you should visit." The brown eyed girl gave him a puzzled expression. He just smiled in answer. "Well, here's my stop." He nodded to a door at the end of the hall. "See ya, squirt."

She waved to him as he left. He entered the cramped office room. A few agents were already seated around an oval table, paper stacks beside them. Gray fought the wish to just leave. Documents, documents everywhere! Couldn't they just shred those and just _say _whatever the hell had to be done.

He sat down with the other sergeants. Meredy gave looked at him when he sat down. "Ready for your day of fun."

"You know it." He replied.

"Umm, Gray-sama, may Juvia sit with you?"

The ice mage turned around to see a blue hair girl nervously shuffling from foot to foot behind him. He grinned at her. "Course you can." Juvia beamed at him before sliding into the seat next to him. Even with all her flirting she was still a good friend to him. They use to go on missions all the time together before she left for that solo mission months ago. But to him (especially now) she was just a good friend. Speaking of that mission…

"Why aren't you at Fairy Tail anymore?"

"The mission turned out to be a dead-end. Then they also wanted agents to return for the possible fight with Igneel they expect. So Juvia came back."

"Glad to have you back." Meredy added. "It gives us one more person to lose our sanity with."


	17. Bad News

**I do not own Fairy Tail. So if you can't tell 1) this chapter is short and 2) this story is drawing to a close. Just a few more chapters left. Well, enjoy this one. **

* * *

The various conversations in the room died down when Kagura entered and walked to the front of the closed space. Heads turned to her, giving their full attention to the strict female. Her stern brown eyes surveyed the room. When she decided everything was to her liking she let her demeanor soften just a notch.

"I'm sure some of you have already heard, but just to clear away any confusion I'll set the topic for today's discussion."

Gray leaned forward in his chair, wondering if there was some sort of announcement he could have missed.

"A few hours ago we received a message from Igneel, he has given us a very tempting proposal in exchange for his son. We agreed."

Excited murmurs filled the room. Sub conversations sparked to life, accompanied from nods of approval to looks of scorn on the news. Gray didn't say anything. He numbly sat back, feeling like he just got hit by a brick. He knew Natsu wasn't going to stay with him forever, but he didn't expect things to move this fast. Not out of the blue like this.

Kagura cleared her throat. The talking ended once more. "We'll be making the trade three days from today. The other generals are currently deliberating which mages that will be accompanying the prisoner to the drop off point. Everyone selected to go will be notified by tonight. So far there are a handful of mages that I know for certain will go."

Gray hung his head, letting his bangs fall and cover his expression. He let himself tune out, no longer caring what was said. He was going to have to tell Natsu later. How was he supposed to do that?! What then? Natsu would be thrilled he could go home, so why was he worried?

But what would happen to him when Natsu left? It was a selfish thought, he knew. But the idea of departing from Natsu forever was…terrifying. It was one thing when he just thought about it earlier in his panic. But now it was actually happening. The dragon slayer would have to go and then he'll be alone once more.

That idea hurt to think about. Forget all the teasing, panicking, and fright he had about them he'll miss the fire mage beyond what should be possible. That goofy grin and that eyesore color hair. It wouldn't be there for him anymore.

…

* * *

One of the dim lights in the room flickered, threatening to burn out completely. The sun had long set and only faint traces of moonlight trickled through spaces in the closed blinds. The walls seemed closer together, closing in on their selves. Though that might have been because the room was so lonely.

Natsu waited patiently beside the door. Gray left what must have been hours ago and he was still sitting there for his return. It was almost pathetic that he couldn't find anything to look forward to except for the ice mag coming back.

A smile slipped onto his face. Then again, that was something worth looking forward to. Gray always did have a certain way of brightening his day (or in this case night). Maybe he could talk him into sneaking into the courtyard for a late night date. There would hardly be anyone up in a few hours. No one would catch them and their amour.

* * *

Lyon was waiting for him outside the meeting room. The older ice mage was leaning against a wall. A few spiky strand of silver hair fell over his face. His dark eyes rested on the raven, not giving him a chance to escape.

Gray let out a sigh and went over to him. "What do you want."

Lyon raised a slim eyebrow. "Moody I see. Any reason why?"

Gray didn't bother with a retort. "You didn't answer my question."

Lyon ignored his foul attitude. If he could deal with an angry Ultear he could handle his little brother. He gestured toward an exit at the end of the hallway. "Walk with me."

When Gray didn't answer right away he wondered if the younger would just reject his offer. The raven gave him an expressionless stare before turning to walk outside. Lyon grinned and followed. They walked in silence, save the sound of crickets chirping around them. Fresh night air surrounded them, cooling their skin. Gray let the calming night atmosphere sink in.

"Ultear wants you to drop off the pain with Igneel." Lyon stated.

Gray nodded, he'd been expecting as much. He's kept Natsu under control for this long, might as well see it through to the end.

Lyon studied his brother. Gray still appeared expressionless to him. "If you want I can try to get you out of it."

"No….it's fine." Gray replied, plainly.

Lyon scrutinized his brother another time. The raven wasn't meeting his eye when he talked to him. Gray's usually creamy white skin was paler than it should be. Lyon placed a firm hand on the younger's forehead, seeing if he had a temperature. If anything he felt colder than normal. The raven didn't even acknowledge him doing it, that's what got to him the most.

"Gray, is something wrong?"

"I'm fine, just…thinking."

"That's a dangerous pastime." Lyon muttered. He hooked a finger under Gray's chin and forced him to look him in the eye. "What about?"

Gray brushed his hand away. "Don't worry about it." He pushed past the older, not wanting to be there anymore.

Lyon watched his brother's back leave reluctantly. "It's my job to worry about you." e

He called after him, hoping the raven would maybe stop to listen. "Gray?!"

The raven just waved back in a parting farewell but that was it. Lyon was tempting just to stomp up to him and stick him in an ice prison until he told him what was going on. He ignored the idea. He knew Gray all too well. As much as he didn't want to he should just leave the raven be and let him explain on his own time.

* * *

Natsu pounced on him as soon as he walked through the door.

Gray gave him a weak grin before trying to pry him off. Natsu pretended not to notice his effort and hugged him closer. The ice mage surrendered and just settled in the warmth of the other. He ran a pale hand through the tangled pink locks, letting the soft hair move between his fingers.

"Natsu…" He sighed. "I need to tell you something."

"Can't it wait?" The dragon slayer muttered. "I'd rather just stay like this for a moment."

"It's important."

The fire mage let out an exaggerated groan, annoyed that Gray wanted to ruin this perfectly good moment. "What?"

"You're leaving."

The dragon slayer blinked at him, unsure if he heard him correctly. "I'm…leaving?"

Gray nodded. "You're being taken back to Igneel in a few days."

Natsu let the pieces click together in his brain. "Go and not come back..." Gray gave a nod. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"I get to see you after this…right?"

Natsu looked at him with eyes pleading him to say yes. All the more reason why Gray's heart broke when he shook his head no. Natsu's face fell and he gripped the ice mage tight, afraid if he let go he'll slip away.

"Natsu," Gray breathed. "I'm sorry but we can't after this."

"You're wrong." Natsu stated. "Yes we can. You could join Fairy Tail and then we cou-"

"I'm not leaving this place." Gray cut him off. "Fairy Tail might be a family to you, but my family's here. I'm not giving them up, I can't."

Natsu let go of him and gripped his fists. "This is bullshit!" He snapped. "It's just a bunch of pointless fighting that's not going to get anyone anywhere! Why the hell are you putting up with this?!"

"Natsu!" Gray yelled twice as loud at him. "Don't you ever say that again. Got it?! It's not pointless to me!"

The ice mage pushed past him. Natsu wanted to hit himself. What was he thinking? Of course Gray had plenty of reason to be here. "Oh geez, Gray, I'm sorry I didn't mean it." He apologized.

The raven collapsed on his bed, burying his face in his hands. "Forget it. I know you didn't mean it. I'm just…Forget it."

Natsu sat down next to him. "Isn't there something we can do?"

Gray shook his head again. "Everything's being worked out as we speak."

Natsu's voice came out in a bare whisper. "How long?"

"Three days."

Natsu hung his head in defeat. That soon? He'd been hoping he'd say never. He wrapped an arm around the ice mage again and pulled him close. "I'll figure something out, just you watch. Okay?" Gray didn't answer, just buried his head in Natsu's chest, inhaling his scent.


	18. The Deal

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Or anything else for that matter. But as long as you guys are reading, enjoy! **

* * *

"How about this,"

Natsu stood at the foot of the bed, his disheveled spikes stuck out in every direction, the dragon slayer not having bothered to appear tidy at this time in the morning. Dark circles were present under his eyes, giving the raven the impression the other had stayed up all night long thinking about their predicament. Gray watched Natsu's moving mouth listlessly. The fire mage had woken him up hours ago to spout off several dozen ideas at him. Not once since six a.m. that morning had the dragon slayer stopped talking for more than a moment. Even now his lips kept forming into different letters.

"Then all we have to do is-"

"Too obvious." The ice mage cut him off, winning an annoyed groan from the fire mage in response. Natsu let the hamsters in his head turn the wheels for a moment. His turn to plans had been trampled on then stampeded for good measure. Damn ice mage didn't even give him a chance to explain on some of them.

"What about sneaking off to see me?" Gray gave him a questioning look. "You go off on missions all the time, right? Whenever you're near Magnolia you could slip away and come see-"

"Not happening." Gray sighed. "They won't send me back there anymore now that there's someone who knows who I really am. They'll keep me as far away from Fiore as they can."

Natsu suppressed the irritated scream dying to come out. He settled for flopping back down on the bed next to Gray, a friendlier form of dealing with possible defeat. The ice mage swept the messy sakura bangs away from his tanned face. "Can't you just…I don't know…retire? That way you don't have to listen to what they say."

Gray smacked his head playfully. "I'm too young to retire."

"Aw, come on." Natsu whined. "You can still go on missions here. But this way you only have to if you want to. All the other time you can just leave on your own without anyone knowing."

"I wish it was that easy." Gray murmured. "Can't do it though. Getting out of field work is more complicated than that." Natsu muttered a string of curses under his breath. The ice mage leaned over him. "Don't look so down. You get a kiss for trying if you want." Natsu gave him a lopsided grin in return.

* * *

"-then he just left without another word."

Lyon put his chin in his palm, his bewilderment residing clearly in his black orbs. After spending the night worrying about his precious little brother (really, the little shit should appreciate how much he cares more often) he went to ask for the not so grand advice from the most motherly figure he knew. The she demon was glowering at him, still fuming at having a loud banging on her door wake her up this morning.

"You came in here to tell me _that_?!" Ultear resisted the urge to smash Lyon's head in. She was stuck listening to the moron for the past whatever minutes when she could have been in her warm bed. "What do you want me to do about it?!"

Lyon squirmed uneasily under her gaze. "I was thinking…maybe you could talk to him."

A fist that was nowhere as delicate as it appeared rammed into the side of his head. "Why the hell would I do that?! Do it yourself if you're so concerned over nothing."

The ice mage rubbed his throbbing skull, willing the pain to ebb away. "I thought it be better if I gave him some space. He hates it when I pressure him into talking."

"So you'll have _me_ do it?"

"…"

"I can't believe you." Ultear muttered. She swore one day she was going to strangle the infuriating brother of hers. Heck, she may very well be doing the world a favor if she did. There would be one less imbecile walking this planet. "Saving yourself by having me take on Gray's wrath at being shoved into a corner. For shame, Lyon. For shame."

The younger mage held up his hands innocently. "Think of it the way I am. Brothers have a special relationship that cannot be crossed by forcing one another into conversation about their _feelings_." Lyon shivered at the word. "Sisters though," he continued, "do not abide by those same rules. They can be as bossy and nosy as they want. Especially older sisters like you."

"In other words it's okay if Gray gets pissed off at me as long as he still likes you." Ultear narrowed her eyes at him. "How shallow of you."

Lyon sighed. "Okay, I didn't want to bring this up but…you have to."

"I _have _to?" Ultear's voice raised an octave.

"Just hear me out." Lyon placed a calming hand on her shoulder, and then pulled it away when a layer of ice started to dig into his skin. "We agreed a long time ago that I'll take on the paternal roll if you took on the maternal part. Feelings are your problem."

"Bullshit. We agreed to take turns on who has to do the parent crap for him. Right now it's _your_ problem."

"Did not." Lyon scoffed. "Besides, I've done way more than you have in either department."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Have not. Now go talk to him if you think it's such a big deal."

"Fine, if you think of it that way, may I remind you I was the one who had to have the talk with him."

"That's your reasoning? I have to do this now for a discussion you two had, what, five years ago?!"

"Yes." Lyon answered. "But in my defense it's one of the most awful things I've ever had to do in my lifetime. I think you can spare a few moments of your time for something not so demanding."

"Can't we just send him to the psychiatrist?" The time mage begged. Lyon pointed to the door, a silent command to go. Ultear gritted her teeth before heading out the door, slamming it behind her.

"They have one awkward conversation together and I'm stuck dealing with everything else that happens." She grumbled.

She made her way down the not yet crowded halls, gracefully stepping out of the way of people and obstructions that cluttered the hallways. Her light footsteps echoed off the dull floor tile. Ultear smirked at that. Maybe she should have Lyon scrub the floors later, have them gleaming in exchange for doing what he wanted from her.

She dug in her pocket for her key card. One of her favorite perks of being a general was having a master key. She could open any door in the building she wanted. She used it for every time she wanted to barge in on her two "adorable" younger brothers and didn't feel like waiting for them to open the door. She couldn't let two teenage boys have too much privacy. That was just asking for trouble.

Ultear swung down the passageway and into the boys' dormitory. A few more twists and turns and she was standing in front of the door leading to the younger raven's private quarters. She could hear a few unfathomable sounds coming from inside, denoting the younger was already up. She slid the plastic card through the reader and with a small 'click' turned the door handle.

…

"Gray Fullbuster!"

Two heads snapped up and looked over at the now stunned time mage. Ultear felt her reality distort and she could only focus on the two mages across the room from her. A tanned hand was still twined in her younger brother's dark hair, the owner too shocked at being seen to take it out. The younger raven was staring back with a mixture of astonishment and horror in his crystal blue eyes.

"We-were you ju-just ki-" The time mage slowly backed away from the open door. Her hands were clasped over her mouth, holding in the shriek that was trying to get out.

Gray jumped up from the bed and stumbled towards her. "I swear this is not what it looks li-"

"I don't want to hear it!" She yelled. "Don't you dare try to justify _that_!" Her eyes traveled over to the pink haired bastard. "You!" She pointed a shaky accusing finger at him. "You're going to _die_ for this!" The time mage turned on her heels and fled down the hallway, unable to take the idea of what she just saw any longer.

"Ultear, wait!" Gray called desperately after her.

The raven's plea went unheard as the time mage disappeared around the corner. Gray turned to the startled fire mage next to him. Natsu was looking at him with terror in his coal eyes at the thought of what would happen next.

"If anyone comes, run." Gray commanded before running out the room to stop the time mage.

The ice mage sprinted down the hallways, narrowly avoiding crashing into people and walls along the way. He could make out Ultear's long dark hair at the end of the hallway. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't screaming it to everyone in hearing distance.

Ultear pushed past the beginning to bustle hallways back to where she could be alone to scream her pounding thoughts. She swiped her key card into the insert and toppled into her now empty room. A force hit the door before she could close it and Gray stepped in behind her. The younger mage slammed the door behind him so no one would hear.

"Look, I can explain wha-"

"Don't!" Ultear backed away from him. "Get out!"

Gray reached out and clasped bother her wrists in his hands. "I know this seems weird but just let me say what happened." The ice mage shouted. Gray's mind was running a thousand miles a minute. He had to think of a lie, any lie would do.

Ultear brought her knee up to his chest, effectively knocking the wind out of him. Gray let his hold go on accident. "Don't try to talk about it!"

Gray ducked when a fist came close to hitting his throat. "Please, just listen to-"

"Not a soul!" Ultear's elbow connected with his stomach. "You're not to tell a soul about this. Got it! No one is going to find out."

Gray let out a cough and fell backwards. "Wha-"

"I'm not finished yet!" Ultear reached down and gripped his neck. Angry or not she had to make her mind think of a way out. Strategy was the only thing that could fix this mess. "No one is going to learn about what you and that bastard have been doing. Not. One. Person."

The younger managed a weak nod in response.

"Any word leaks out and he's finished." Ultear gripped his throat tighter. "You're finished too, Gray. You can forget about everything if you even _think_ about continuing this- this- this endeavor!" The younger mage withered under her suffocating grasp. "Understand?!"

The raven coughed out a few words between gasps for air. Ultear dropped her hold and he crumpled to the floor.

"I swear, Gray, if I find out you've betrayed us anymore than I already hav-"

"I haven't" He cried.

"Then you can go ahead and crawl over to their side. If you associate with those killers you might as well actually be one!"

Gray reeled back in shock. "Ultear, please, I would nev-"

"Tell you what," The time mage raised a hand to silence him. "Since you enjoy hurting those you care about so much, you can be the one who takes care of that bastard." Ultear set her hard eyes in him. "Get it?! If that bastard tries anything you're the one who has to kill him."


	19. Ultear's Decision

**I do not own anything, let's face it, none of us do.**

**Because nothing says fun like writing a cliffhanger and not updating for more than two weeks.**

* * *

_ Two mugs of steaming hot cocoa were placed in front of them. The children kept their gaze down, ignoring the meager attempt to comfort them. The mature figure of an authority figure sat down across from them. From time to time the adult would open their mouth to say words of reassurance to them, only to it close when nothing could be said to help. The two smaller forms on the verge of being broken sat silently, their faces stoic while their minds traveled to every imaginable heartbreaking scenario that everyone fears when it comes to their loved ones. _

_ Lyon sat next to his sister, his face blank of expression. He would occasionally suck in a sharp breath, trying to understand what was happening. He had always considered himself to be the man of the house, regardless to his young age. The only parent they've ever really had was their mother. So he filled the position of caregiver every now and then to help out. Even if he wasn't the oldest of his siblings, he acted as a makeshift guardian. But that was only when Ur had stepped out on a job or such and the three of them were left alone, knowing full well that she would eventually return. It wasn't long term, just long enough for them to make it through a week or so. Now as the stone cold truth bore down on him he felt overwhelmed in every sense of the word._

_ Neither he nor Ultear had exchanged words since arriving to this temporary safe haven. Not that they believed safety was deemed all important anymore. Not that they needed to let the other know what they were thinking. The raven let her long hair fall from behind her ears, shielding her listless features. Unlike her brother she wasn't yet thinking of the consequences, she couldn't dive into that just now. She contemplated how they ended up like this. Why misfortune had to fall upon them when they've done nothing to deserve the pain._

_ The only sound to break the silence was the infrequent splutter or harsh breathing coming from the next room over. Gray had made his descent into the dark clutches of unconsciousness shortly after they arrived; all his energy drained from his body to stay alert any longer. Thick bandages were wrapped around his middle and chest. A salve had been gently smeared on his burns, a way to fight off any infection until they could bring him to a real doctor in the morning. His angelic face was twisted into one of pain while he slept. _

_ "I'm sure she'll be back tomorrow…"_

_ Ultear and Lyon raised their dark eyes up to who had spoken. A woman sat across from them, trying to give a hopeful smile but her eyes showed that even she didn't believe her voice. The two children slid their gaze back down to their laps, breaking eye contact._

_ They had listened to their mother's last request. To grab their little brother and seek help at a nearby home of a family friend so no more harm can befall them. So when they pounded on this woman's door at the ungodly nightly hour she didn't hesitate to let them in and help them every way she could._

_ The woman watched the two younglings. She would never be able to imagine the loss they were suffering, especially when they were too in their youth to understand why. Why a seemingly normal mother had no doubt been wiped from the world of the living. Not evening knowing why she was a target in the first place._

_ "I suppose…you're old enough to know…"_

_ The siblings hung on to her every word for the rest of the night. They slowly learned the truth, the good and the ugly of it. That their mother had a double life they had only guessed at before._

_ Ultear dug her nails into her palms, letting to piercing pain mingle with that of her mind. Reassurance held no meaning to it. The unthinkable had happened. They had lost a part of their family. Worst of all, there was someone still out there who had caused them this pain. Not feeling a thing at having torn a family apart. _

_ A sense of righteousness boiled inside her. She glanced over at her brother beside her. In spite of their childish teasing they had between each other she would never want to see a gloomy look on Lyon's face as she saw now. She turned her head over to the archway leading to the room Gray was sleeping. He was just a little kid and already was finding out how much this world hurt._

_ She forced down the lump forming in her. She wouldn't let anything like this ever happen again to the two of them. They were the only people she had left in this world, and she'll be damned if someone tries to take them away next. _

* * *

Ultear whipped away a tear that had streaked down her alabaster cheek. The memory was still fresh, dancing fleetingly on her mind. Her heart clenched involuntarily as her brain went back and forth from the past and the present.

She tried desperately to clear her head from her stabbing thoughts. The attempt was nothing but futile. She kept thinking of her youngest brother. Him swaddled with bandages. How he couldn't move for months without crying out in pain. Losing his playfulness. Growing up way to fast. Never getting to be a normal kid.

Now he was indirectly close to the man who did all that to him.

It didn't matter how it happened or why. All that matter was that someone who she promised to take care of was with someone who was part of _that man's _family. It had meant nothing to her when they were just guard and prisoner. Gray could have taken care of himself if anything happened. That was what hurt the most. Gray _let_ this happen.

He could very easily get hurt all over again and there was nothing she could do to protect him. To her it didn't matter if Gray was old enough to take care of himself or if he was that same little kid from when this all started. He was still her baby brother and she kept the same promise she made thirteen years ago.

But that damn kid went against everything she ever thought. Here she always thought only a monster could kill someone's family member when she had already said those condemning words to Gray. What was Gray going to become…

A knock at the door snapped her back to her surroundings. Ultear brushed her hair back and quickly glanced in a mirror to make sure her eyes weren't puffy from crying. Deciding she was somewhat presentable she walked over to the door of her dorm.

Her door swung open to reveal a somewhat irritated Lyon, though she could sense a hint of worry under his glare.

"What the hell happened!? I sent you to talk to Gray a few days ago and haven't seen either of you since."

"Is that so…" Ultear trailed off, losing her focus. She numbly opened the door wider, allowing the other to enter so they could have more privacy than the hallway gave.

Lyon stared questioningly at her. "Well? What happened between you to?"

Ultear hung her head, unable to look at him any longer. "Nothing…"

"Gray avoiding everyone isn't nothing." Lyon growled. "He doesn't talk to anyone and refuses to let anyone see him. He's completely cut himself off. He barely even comes out to eat anymore."

The time mage said nothing for a few moments, letting it all sink in. "We just…talked."

Lyon raised an eyebrow. "You just _talked_. You expect me to believe Gray has depression because you two were just _talking_."

Ultear snapped her eyes up to him in shock. "Depression?"

Lyon gave a small nod. "I've haven't seen him this dispirited for a long time. Maybe it's just stress or he's overwhelmed. Either way he's not himself."

Ultear blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected Gray to get depressed. Then again, it's not like she expected he wouldn't be.

"That Dragneel kid was moved into solitary a few days ago. I think he'll snap out of it once he realizes he doesn't have the hassle of watching him every moment."

"It'll definitely make him change someway…" Ultear mumbled.

Lyon waited her to say more. The time mage let the minutes pass unspoken, lest she need him knowing.

The silverette let out a defeated sigh. "Look… I don't if you two had a heart to heart conversation that didn't go so well or what. But to be honest, I don't really care. All I need to know is when Gray starts acting like his old self. Got it? Because the next time I-"

"I said it was nothing." Ultear cut him off. "I'll take care of this all. Don't worry about a thing. Alright?"

The younger mage let out one last sigh. "You sure? It's not going to get worse? Because if he's not better soon I'll send him to the nearest therapist. Maybe he'll talk to someone who doesn't play in a part of his life."

"That might be me very soon."Ultear breathed, low enough that Lyon couldn't hear her. The raven straightened up, adding in an audible tone, "If you see him again tell him he doesn't have to go on the drop off, if anything it might be better if he doesn't."

Lyon nodded. "I'll tell him, and sis," He made sure the other was looking him in the eye before he continued. "How 'bout we just settle on me always doing the talking for now on. I guess thinking you could have in the first place was too much to ask."

Ultear gave him a weak smile. "I can live with that."

Lyon returned a much brighter, gleaming smile. "This goes for you as well. Stop being Miss Gloom and come out more often." Lyon ruffled her hair (which she did not appreciate) and walked out the door.

Ultear stood alone in her room, thinking everything over. She let out a breath, thinking for the umpteenth time what she had last said to her youngest brother.

"Don't worry Gray…"

Ultear felt her mind become clear and set with each word. If she could keep Gray from dirtying his hands she'll do anything.

"If anything happens I won't make you become the monster. I'll be one…"

* * *

**Well I hope you enjoyed that short addition. Basically everyone said they hated Ultear after the last chapter so I tried to make her more understandable. Though I didn't do a very good job at it. **


	20. One Last Fight

**I do not own Fairy Tail. I'm sick of this story... Enjoy.**

* * *

Natsu pulled his knees up to his chest, trying to block out the chilling cold of the damp room. His used to be semi-free hands were once again on short length chains, keeping him from escaping. The jagged stone wall dug into his back, scratching his skin.

Time was running together. Minutes became hours, hours became days, and days were unclear. He'd been dragged down here what felt like a lifetime ago. He hadn't seen Gray since the raven went to go chase after his sister. The next thing he knew guards were trying to take him away. He'd tried to run, tried to fight, but without his magic he was utterly useless. He'd been tossed down here like he had the first time.

He could here footsteps in the hallway. It didn't take a genius to know they were coming for him. The heavy metal door to his cell slid open, revealing a group of mages looking down at him. One cautiously approached, undoing the shackles from his wrist but leaving the magic resistant cuffs. He was roughly jerked up to his feet. A baton was shoved into his back, a silent warning.

The dragon slayer gritted his teeth. He hated this most of all. Being treated like a dangerous criminal…It was one of the worst feelings you could imagine.

The next half hour passed in a blur. Voices mingled together and orders were given out. He caught fleeting glimpses of Gray. The raven kept his gaze down, ignoring the pinkette's attempts to catch his attention. He'd tried to push past everyone to walk over to him. The next thing he knew a black hood was over his head and a sickly smelling cloth was pressed against his nose.

…

The churning of his stomach and the involuntary force of being slammed against cold metal some hours later let him know he was on a train. A splitting headache was pounding in his skull, hitting full force. The hood was still over his face and his hands were now tied behind his back.

He squirmed, seeing if he could loosen his bonds. A tight rope cut into his wrists, paining him to try. While his hands were busy he tried taking the hood off. He was just able to see the floor beneath him when something cold and hard hit him in the back of the head.

* * *

Gray stayed silent as Natsu's previously thrashing form went still before slumping back to the ground. He retracted his hand, letting his ice coated fist melt back to just his hand.

The raven leaned back, trying to put an acceptable space between him and the dragon slayer. He felt stares follow him, questioning if he was really the best choice for this. The ice mage ignored them. He wasn't a damn coward. He would see through this to the end.

* * *

When Natsu came to he found his head lolling down and his feet were being dragged behind him. He raised his drooping head with his returning strength. Gray's familiar hold was around his back, propping the dragon slayer up. The fire mage's arm in return was slung loosely around the raven's neck, not offering equal support.

The ice mage ignored his waking form and continued hauling him around as dead weight. The fire mage glanced around, wondering where they were after finally realizing the ropes and hood had been removed. Dense vegetation was surrounding them, hiding everything that wasn't immediately next to them. They must be nearing the exchange point any moment now. He could smell his father's scent carried on the wind, along with something else.

They were in a block formation. He and Gray were in the center, with mages surrounding them to make sure the fire mage couldn't escape. He could see Gray's sister and brother in the front, taking the lead.

Natsu licked his dry lips. He looked back over at Gray, who still hadn't bothered to look at him. The raven kept his gaze straight ahead. The dragon slayer felt a lump in his throat, wondering what had happened since he'd last seen the ice mage.

"You may release my son now."

Natsu glanced away from the ice mage and towards the familiar voice. A man he hadn't seen in what felt like ages had his intense eyes on him. Natsu felt Gray stiffen next to him and could see everyone else do likewise.

Only Ultear visibly kept her cool. "You've made the arrangements then."

Natsu saw his father give a slight nod. He felt himself being pushed forward, half stumbling half walking towards Igneel. Natsu stared back at Gray, hurt that the raven wasn't even saying goodbye. The dragon slayer looked away, shrugging the ice mage off. He took a few steps closer to his father.

Then there was a flash of light and he lost sight of everyone.

…

Smoke clouded his vision, hiding everyone from his eyes. Yells of outrage filled the air. A hand clamped down on his wrist and yanked him away. Natsu felt himself being pulled away and through the concealing plant life. He blinked his watering eyes, slowly letting the scene become clear. He was running with...

_ Lucy?_

He glanced to his side and saw the same thing was happening to Gray with an angry scarlet.

"Sagittarius," Lucy yelled, waving over at one of her spirits positioned some distance away. "Again!"

"As you wish, moshi moshi."

The archer raised his bow. Some sort of package was attached at the end of an arrow. Natsu watched as the shaft sliced through the air and landed where they had just been. Another cloud of smoke came to life and hid them once more.

"Erza, let go of me!" Gray gave a failed attempt and tried to tug his hand away from the knight. The scarlet just held tighter.

Erza set her hard eyes on the two males. "You two are in serious trouble right now. If there wasn't an ambush I would punish you right away."

Natsu let a sigh of relief leave him. No wrath of the terrible _yet_.

"Ambush?" Gray asked, still being pulled along.

Erza nodded. "The whole place is one big trap. Do you two know how hard it was to find out you'll be here?!"

"Weeks of trekking through the mud." Lucy added, grumbling.

Gray blinked at the two girls. His eyes narrowed on Erza's firm grip. With one quick twist he escaped her grasp.

"Gray! Wait!" Natsu called after when the raven turned to flee. The ice mage ignored him and ran back the way they came. "Dammit."

"Natsu, don't." The celestial mage order. The dragon slayer stopped wriggling his wrist from her. "We've scoped out the whole situation since last week. We don't have time to stay around."

"You don't get it!' Natsu gritted. "My dad is-"

"I know." Lucy cut him off.

Natsu stopped struggling. "You…know?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Our fathers were business partners. Of course I know."

Natsu opened and closed his mouth a few times, speechless. Even his best friend had kept him in the dark. He held out his other hand to her. "Could you maybe…get these off? I don't want to charge in completely powerless."

Erza examined the cuffs with interest. "Magic restraints…"

Lucy let her brown eyes run over his pleading face. If Natsu was this desperate she wouldn't be the one to stop him. She slid her hand over to her hip and jingled one of her keys free. A glimmer of gold sliced the air followed by a light purple pink haze.

"Punishment, Princess?"

The celestial mage brushed off the question. "Virgo, could you get these off him by chance." The blonde motioned a delicate hand at Natsu's wrists.

The spirit leaned closer, eyeing the cuffs. "I'm sorry, Princess. I only know how to wear bondage. Not how to remove it."

Natsu let his arms drop.

Lucy let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Natsu. We can't take them off."

"Nor will we let you partake in a battle without your magic." Erza clamped a hand on his shoulder, showing her decision.

The dragon slayer snapped his head in the direction the ice mage ran off. "Gray…"

"Princess," Virgo spoke up. "If I may, I believe I know someone who can help us."

* * *

Gray huffed out short breaths as his legs carried him back. He hadn't thought Erza had pulled him that far. Apparently his perception was wrong.

Yells and blasts could be heard as he got closer. Gray bit his lip, fearing the 'ambush' had already started. Smoke still clouded the sight, hiding any attackers as well as victims.

"Lyon?!" The raven lost himself in the fog. "Ultear?!"

* * *

Natsu rubbed his sore wrists, trying to let the circulation flow a little easier. He flashed his carrot haired savior a bright, thankful smile. "Thanks, Loke. How'd you know to do that?"

The lion spirit gave a small shrug. "Do you know how many times I've lost the key whenever I've had a girl over to-"

"Thank you. That will be all." Lucy practically shouted.

Natsu beamed at the blonde. "You too, Luce, couldn't have done it without you." The dragon slayer spun around and ran back the way he came. "I'll be right back. I promise."

* * *

Gray ducked, letting a beam of magic pass over the spot his heart just was. The cover Erza and Lucy had created was finally beginning to fade. Whoever was trying to kill him could see him clear as day while they were still unseen.

He slammed one fist into an open palm and formed an icy shield in the direction the shot came from. Another hit stroke the crystal surface, cracking and weakening it. The raven did a quick recon. He spotted the silverette meters away, sending one cold formation after another at some opponent.

The ice mage swerved and headed towards him. He heard the sound of glass shattering behind his back, his shield breaking to pieces. Gray slammed his hands back in position, his eyes searching for his assailant.

He reeled back in surprise when a nearby tree burst into flames and a mage fell from one of the branches. A tanned fist came out from nowhere and smashed into the fallen man's face.

A cheery smile belonging to the fire dragon slayer met the ice mage. "You have no idea how good it feels to use magic again."

Gray gaped at him before slowly letting his stunned expression turn to a happy one.

Natsu pulled him closer and placed himself back to back with the ice mage. "We'll talk later, got it, Ice Block?"

* * *

Ultear blocked punch after punch, slamming her wannabe assassins to the ground. She spun around, twisting an arm out of socket of some mage when she did. She let out a relieved sigh when she saw her youngest brother still in one piece some distance away.

Her eyes widened in terror as the monster himself began to walk towards him.

Blood red hair blew in the wind. Crimson colored eyes were settled on the young ice mage. Ultear felt her breath leave her as the monster raised one hand with fire swirling around it. He was going to take away another member of her family, and she was too far away to stop it in time.

The area erupted in uncontrollable fire and swallowed everything whole. A scream she barely acknowledged came from her when Gray's form could no longer be distinguished.

Then the fire was just _gone_. Her mind buzzed trying to think again. The one she had a death sentence on was on top of her brother, one hand covering the raven's face and his body over the others protectively. Smoke was rising from his skin, Igneel's powerful flames too much for even him.

Then he grabbed her brother's arm and started pulling him away from the scene. One of his fists connected squarely with Igneel's jaw as he passed.

Ultear watched in dismay, wondering how one monster had saved her brother from another.

* * *

Gray stared dumbly at the dragon slayer half carrying, half dragging him.

"Natsu, are you sure that was-"

"It's fine." He answered. The fire mage glanced back at him. "Anyway, I think it's time the two of us head home by now, don't you think."

"But my sibli-"

"They'll be fine." He was cut off again. "If they're half as stubborn as you they'll be okay. Besides," He looked the ice mage directly in the eyes. "The thing about family, it doesn't matter what you did. If you stay away for a while they forgive you when you come back."

* * *

**Well there you go. After this there's just going to be an epilogue and this story is officially done. Depending on how lazy I am it might be up tomorrow. Thanks for reading the chapter! **


	21. Epilogue

**Disclaimer, I do not own Fairy Tail.**

**This fanfiction if finally, FINALLY, finished. It went way over how long I wanted to spend on the whole thing. Oh well, one more thing I can say I wrote. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Didn't think I'll find you out here."

"Hmm," Ultear hummed, glancing over at her brother taking a seat next to her. "Didn't think I'll see you out here either."

The other gave a shrug. "It's quiet enough, good of a place as any."

They sat in silence for a time, letting the familiar setting work by itself. Their muscles slowly began to unwind from all their hard work these past few months. They kept their thoughts to themselves, not wanting to voice their worries just yet.

"Someone told me they saw him yesterday."

Ultear settled her dark eyes on the other mage.

"They didn't get the chance to talk to him but by the looks of it he's doing fine."

The time mage took in a shaky, relieved breath. Some of her nerves ebbed away, calming her fears. "Lucky for him, because if he left to start a shitty life I'll have to kick his scrawny ass."

Lyon gave a dry chuckle. "We wouldn't want that, would we?"

They fell back in their silence once more. Ultear leaned her head back, feeling the sun's warmth on her marble skin. She closed her eyes and let her mind stop thinking for the time being. That was all she needed to hear.

"You think he'll be okay?"

A smirk played at the edge of Ultear's lips. Her thoughts went to a certain pink haired mage that had covered her littlest brother. "I think there's someone looking out for him."

Lyon gave his sister a questioning look, not that she could see it, and not that she would have clarified anyway. He shook his head at her and leaned back. "I have the weirdest siblings out there."

* * *

**I never said it was going to be a _long_ epilogue. Either way it's done. **


End file.
